Cathay Pacific to trim capacity in 2020 due to unrelenting protests

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific said it would trim capacity next year after posting dismal markers in the second half of the year due to unending mass protests.

On Tuesday, Cathay Pacific revealed that its inbound traffic to Hong Kong plummeted by 46% in November compared to the same month last year. The airline also carried 9% fewer passengers in November compared to its counterpart in the previous year. It marked the 4^th consecutive months of passenger demand downturn.

“November continued to be very challenging for both Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong, with sentiment for travel still weak,” Ronald Lam, chief customer and commercial officer for Cathay Pacific wrote.

This led to the company’s decision to cut seat capacity in 2020 by 1.4%, a complete turnaround from its prior plan of increasing its capacity by 3.1%.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines struggled financially and almost closed its operations earlier this month. It reported on Sunday that it also lost 16.2% passengers in November compared to its previous year outing.