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Cathay Pacific trims by a third
11/04/2003 13:44 - (SA)
Hong Kong - Cathay Pacific Airways said on Friday it would cut scheduled passenger services by more than a third in an effort to contain the financial impact caused by the Sars virus crisis and the war in Iraq.
The cut was the third announced by the airline since March 31 in response to a steep fall in passenger traffic and bookings across the airline's network, after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) in Hong Kong and other parts of the world, and the war in Iraq.
David Turnbull, the airline's chief executive, said: "With lingering uncertainty in the Middle East and the profound impact that fear of atypical pneumonia has had globally, we do not know how long the weakness in travel demand will continue.
"It is not possible, at this stage, to quantify the potential impact on the company," he said.
In all, 19 destinations have been affected and 184 weekly services cut, or 37% of the airline's normal weekly schedule, which now includes a large number of long-haul flights.
Airline issued profit warning
The first cuts focused only on routes between Hong Kong and other cities in the region.
Most changes have already taken effect and others will be introduced through April, said the airline.
The announcement comes soon after the airline issued a profit-warning for the first half of 2003 due to the sharp decline in demand.
"After a strong start to the year, Cathay Pacific's passenger load factors dropped sharply in the second half of March. The impact was felt across almost all routes, both long-haul and short-haul," it said.
"The average number of passengers being carried by the airline a day is about one-third of that for the comparable period last year. Forward bookings are also very weak," it added.
On a more positive note, the company added, its cargo business remained largely unaffected.
The Sars virus, which manifests itself as an unusual form of pneumonia, has killed more than 100 people and infected more than 3 000 worldwide, most of them in East Asia.
- AFX
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