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Exclusive | Cathay Pacific slashing passenger flights to Hong Kong over holiday season
- Looming aircrew shortage during Christmas and New Year holidays blamed for move to make about a third of December’s inbound flights cargo only
- Due to city’s strict quarantine rules, staffing of passenger flights is done on a volunteer basis
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Cathay Pacific is cutting back on both long and short-haul passenger flights to Hong Kong next month to adjust for a looming staffing shortage over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
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About a third of inbound flights to the city operating under the airline’s “closed loop” arrangement in December will be converted to handle mostly cargo, the Post has learned. Mainland China and Australia flights are unaffected as they do not operate under the closed-loop system.
Outbound flights are expected to continue operating as normal, with about 620 scheduled for next month.
“Operational and travel restrictions that remain in place continue to constrain our ability to operate flights,” a company spokeswoman said on Thursday, referring to the city’s ongoing anti-coronavirus pandemic measures.
“We are consolidating our passenger flight schedules for December 2021, including cancelling a number of flights to Hong Kong.”
The airline does not have enough aircrew for its closed-loop operations, meaning volunteer staff are needed for flying in and out of the city.
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