Cathay Pacific slashes passenger capacity by 96%

Skeleton flights to operate in April and May due to demand-drop and travel restrictions.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon will cut its capacity across passenger networks by 96% in April and May due to drop in demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, an announcement revealed.

This also came on the back of multiple travel restrictions imposed by multiple countries.

Cathay Pacific intends to operate a “bare skeleton” passenger flight schedule in April and May with their freighter capacity remaining intact, based on previous announcements.

Flight schedules will depend on whether more travel restrictions will be imposed by governments around the world, further dampening the passenger demand.

“We are also ramping up our cargo capacity by mounting charter services and operating certain suspended passenger services purely for airfreight to meet cargo customer demand,” said Ronald Lam, Cathay Pacific’s chief customer and commercial officer.

The airline will operate three flights per week to 12 destinations: London (Heathrow), Los Angeles, Vancouver, Tokyo (Narita), Taipei, New Delhi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore and Sydney.

Likewise, Cathay Dragon will also operate three flights per week but only to three destinations: Beijing, Shanghai (Pudong), and Kuala Lumpur.

Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon are also waiving fees on rebooking, rerouting and cancellation for passengers affected.