Cathay Pacific, Dragon Airlines flights reduced

Cathay Pacific Airways, the flag-carrier airline of Hong Kong, has decided to cut passenger and cargo capacity.

It will also put off delivery of aircraft and ask employees to take unpaid leave in view of a decline in revenue in the first quarter of 2009, following a drop in demand for air travel.

Cathay Pacific will reduce the number of passenger flights that it operates on the London, Paris, Frankfurt, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo, Mumbai and Dubai routes.

As for cargo operations, Cathay Pacific Airways said it would cut flights throughout its network.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Dragonair), Cathay Pacific’s subsidiary airline, will stop flying to Fukuoka in Japan and to Dalian, Shenyang, Guilin and Xian in China.

Besides, Dragon Airlines will trim flights to Busan in South Korea and to Shanghai in China.

Tony Tyler, chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways, said in a press release that the carrier was looking forward to “an extremely challenging 2009” with “a toxic

combination of low fares, a drop in first-class and business-class travel, weak cargo loads and poor yields.”

Tyler added that he was not certain about how long the bad times would last and that he saw “no signs of a recovery in demand at the moment.”

He also warned of taking further steps, if need be, to reduce Cathay Pacific’s costs.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong’s biggest airline, said it would cut its passenger capacity by 8 per cent from May 2009.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, Cathay Pacific’s subsidiary airline that focuses on China, will cut its passenger capacity by 13 per cent.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines together will trim their total cargo capacity by 11% from May 2009.

Cathay Pacific Airways has said that the first-quarter revenues from passenger and cargo services of both Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines plunged by as much as 22.4% from a year earlier, but did not give revenue figures for the quarter ending March 31, 2009.

Cathay Pacific has postponed delivery of two Boeing 777 planes to 2010 and is holding talks with aircraft makers on putting off other orders as a part of the carrier’s efforts to conserve cash, according to Tony Tyler.

In addition to this, Cathay Pacific is asking its 17,000 employees to take unpaid leave ranging from one week to four weeks, depending on seniority, starting from May 2009.

However, the carrier does not plan to lay off employees over the next 12 months.

The chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways said the carrier possessed adequate cash aCathay Pacific Airways, the flag-carrier airline of Hong Kong, has decided to cut passenger and cargo capacity, put off delivery of aircraft and ask employees to

take unpaid leave in view of a decline in revenue in the first quarter of 2009, following a drop in demand for air travel.

Cathay Pacific will reduce the number of passenger flights that it operates on the London, Paris, Frankfurt, Sydney, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Taipei, Tokyo,

Mumbai and Dubai routes.

As for cargo operations, Cathay Pacific Airways said it would cut flights throughout its network.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines (Dragonair), Cathay Pacific’s subsidiary airline, will stop flying to Fukuoka in Japan and to Dalian, Shenyang, Guilin and Xian in

China.

Besides, Dragon Airlines will trim flights to Busan in South Korea and to Shanghai in China.

Tony Tyler, chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways, said in a press release that the carrier was looking forward to “an extremely challenging 2009” with “a toxic

combination of low fares, a drop in first-class and business-class travel, weak cargo loads and poor yields.”

Tyler added that he was not certain about how long the bad times would last and that he saw “no signs of a recovery in demand at the moment.”

He also warned of taking further steps, if need be, to reduce Cathay Pacific’s costs.

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong’s biggest airline, said it would cut its passenger capacity by 8 per cent from May 2009.

Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, Cathay Pacific’s subsidiary airline that focuses on China, will cut its passenger capacity by 13 per cent.

Cathay Pacific Airways and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines together will trim their total cargo capacity by 11% from May 2009.

Cathay Pacific Airways has said that the first-quarter revenues from passenger and cargo services of both Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Dragon Airlines plunged by as much as 22.4% from a year earlier, but did not give revenue figures for the quarter ending March 31, 2009.

Cathay Pacific has postponed delivery of two Boeing 777 planes to 2010 and is holding talks with aircraft makers on putting off other orders as a part of the carrier’s efforts to conserve cash, according to Tony Tyler.

In addition to this, Cathay Pacific is asking its 17,000 employees to take unpaid leave ranging from one week to four weeks, depending on seniority, starting from May 2009.

However, the carrier does not plan to lay off employees over the next 12 months.

The chief executive of Cathay Pacific Airways said the carrier possessed adequate cash and stressed that it had no plans right now to tap the market to raise funds, but might do so in future in view of the unfavorable business environment at present.