Covid slashes Cathay Pacific’s passenger numbers by 98% in September
The COVID-19 pandemic slashed the number of passengers traveling on Cathay Pacific Airways by 98.1% in September, compared to the same month last year, the airline reported on Monday.
In its business review, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier predicted that its seating capacity will remain at only one-quarter of its pre-pandemic level until an effective vaccine is developed for COVID-19.
Cathay Pacific and its regional airline, Cathay Dragon, carried a total of 47,060 passengers in September, a year-on-year 98.1% decrease compared to last year. Its planes flew with only 24.9% of seats occupied, a drop of 48.8%, it said.
Over the first nine months of 2020, the number of passengers was 83.2% less than in the same period last year, the airline added.
Cathay Pacific has been dogged by misfortune in recent months, including anti-government protests that once extended out to Hong Kong International Airport. The global coronavirus pandemic has all but halted international travel and forced countries to impose travel restrictions.
Ronald Lam, Cathay’s chief customer and commercial officer, said flights resumed in September to Cebu in the Philippines and Perth, Australia, but the capacity was only 9% of normal levels.
Lam said those flights are expected to remain at about 10% of the pre-pandemic levels through the end of 2020.
In 2021, overall passenger capacity is expected to remain about 50% below normal, he added.
“We expect to operate less than a quarter of passenger capacity in the first half of next year, and expect the market to gradually recover in the second half of next year,” he said. “This forecast is based on the assumption that the vaccine under development will be effective, and can be widely adopted in major markets in the summer of 2021.”
Earlier, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported that Cathay Pacific’s board of directors would put forward a restructuring plan as soon as Oct. 23.
The newspaper said the Hong Kong government is attempting to pressure the carrier to provide laid-off employees with “more generous exit packages.”
In response to Apple Daily’s enquiries, the airline said it would not comment on any speculations or rumours.
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