No Quick Rebound On The Horizon, Warns Cathay

Cathay Pacific said on Thursday that it remains impossible to predict a recovery timeline for travel demand and said it would be "exploring all options" to ensure the airline group survives the severe economic fallout of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Bleak passenger numbers continued to cripple the Hong Kong flag carrier as it revealed it carried only 302 people across a whole day earlier this week – a number that could fit into a single plane.

In a statement published, the airline revealed that Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon planes carried around 311,000 passengers in March, down 90 percent on the same month last year.

Overall, the airline group carried 52 percent fewer passengers in the first quarter compared to the same period last year.

Cathay said it is not expecting any improvement this month either. It's anticipating average daily passenger numbers to remain below 1,000.

“As the economic impact of the global Covid-19 pandemic is intensifying, a recovery timeline in our customer demand remains impossible to predict," said Cathay Pacific Group Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam.

"We still do not see an improvement in our advance passenger bookings and we are anticipating average daily passenger numbers to remain below 1,000 throughout April."

The airline said it is doing everything it can to reduce expenditure and preserve cash for the coming months.