Battered By Covid, Cathay Keeps Flight Capacity Low

Cathay Pacific said on Monday that it will be operating only 10 percent of its flight capacity for the rest of the year, and will keep it under 50 percent for next year amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

"Among the multiple scenarios studied, this one is already the most optimistic that we can responsibly adopt at this moment," said the airline’s chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam.

However, Lam added in a statement that the assumption was based on the hope that vaccines being developed are effective and will be widely adopted.

The International Air Transport Association expects passenger travel won’t return to pre-Covid levels until 2024.

The loss-making Cathay said it, together with its sister carrier Cathay Dragon, carried 47,061 passengers last month – a decrease of about 98 percent from a year ago.

Cathay will reportedly unveil its restructuring programme this week that could see hundreds, possibly thousands, of its staff sacked after it decided to forgo the government’s subsidy to protect jobs.