bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

sponsorType

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

quizIds

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

paywallTypes

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Danny Lee

Qantas is to keep using smaller planes to fly between Hong Kong and Australia over the next six months, as its CEO revealed the airline’s local business had yet to recover from the downturn caused by the city’s civil unrest.
Speaking at an event to mark the official unveiling of the carrier’s luxury first-class lounge at Singapore’s Changi Airport, Alan Joyce said the decision was expected to limit the A$25 million (US$17.1 million) impact on its earnings through the first half of 2020.
Qantas previously blamed the Hong Kong protests for affecting its profitability up to the end of December. For now, there has been no downward revision on the figure to account for next year.
“Nothing has really changed from the A$25 million. Issues are still continuing,” Joyce said.

Between August and October, passenger traffic at Hong Kong International Airport was down by 2.3 million people on the same period last year. Cathay Pacific Airways flew 770,000 fewer people year on year during the same period.
Since the often violent protests began in June, the city has fallen into recession, industries have suffered, and the travel and tourism sector has been buffeted with a sharp drop in visitor arrivals.
A landslide victory for the pan-democrats in last month’s district council elections did not bring an end to the unrest, with demonstrators still calling on the government to respond to their demands for an independent inquiry into police use of force; the retraction of the designation of protests as riots; an amnesty for arrested protesters; and universal suffrage.
Qantas cuts passenger capacity on Hong Kong flights as airlines reel from protests
Joyce said Qantas would continue to use smaller Airbus long-haul planes until the first half of 2020.
“We are scaling the schedule to account for the drop in demand. We’re using the [Airbus 330]-200s instead of the [A330]-300s, that is going to continue into the second half of the financial year,” he said. “We’ll try and minimise the impact.”
Hong Kong is an important part of the Australian carrier’s business. Qantas flies four times a day to the city from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and uses its international airport to transit passengers onwards to Japan, South Korea, India and parts of Southeast Asia.
The carrier’s low-cost Jetstar brands have up to four daily flights out of Hong Kong to Singapore, Japan and Vietnam.


Sky-high US tariffs to hit Boeing, Chinese airliners and China’s home-grown jets

South Korean airlines toughen cabin crew roles amid air rage concerns

Passenger traffic for Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific grows by 19.8% in March

Indian man charged for molesting crew member on Singapore Airlines flight

Aviation

Qantas to keep smaller fleet flying out of Hong Kong to limit HK$133 million impact of protests on business

Qantas flies four times a day to Hong Kong from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Photo: Reuters

epaselect epa07998186 Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (L) and crew members of flight QF7879 disembark the plane during the Qantas Centenary Launch at Qantas Jet Base in Sydney, Australia, 15 November 2019. A direct Qantas flight from London to Sydney successfully touched down in 19-and-a-half hours. EPA-EFE/PETER RAE AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND OUT

News

Hong Kong

Transport

Hong Kong Economy


Airline’s CEO says issues remain and smaller aircraft will be used between city and Australia over next six months



Airline’s CEO says issues remain and smaller fleet will be used between city and Australia over next six months.


Hong Kong aviation