Cathay Pacific announces further flight reductions

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced it will make further temporary reductions to flight schedules in response it says to weakening passenger demand. The adjustments will take effect from April and are planned to remain in effect until end of May 2003.

The majority of the changes will affect services within the Asia region. Cities affected are Bangkok, Denpasar, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei and Tokyo. Most of these destinations however will still continue to be served by more than one service daily.

London services will be reduced by two flights a week as will those to Melbourne, and Los Angeles will move form a double daily service to one flight a day.

On 31 March 2003 Cathay Pacific announced a 4 percent reduction in weekly passenger capacity, or 10 percent reduction in the number of flights.

The combined total adjustment now represents a 14 percent reduction in system-wide weekly passenger capacity, or a 23 percent reduction in the number of flights operated by the airline each week. Some 108 flights have been withdrawn from the airline's weekly schedule.

Cathay has said that passengers who already hold tickets for affected flights will be protected to other services.

Cathay Pacific Director Corporate Planning Augustus Tang said: "The combination of atypical pneumonia and war in the Middle East has had a severe impact on our passenger bookings. These are temporary reductions  and we will continue to monitor the market and make adjustments to meet passenger demand."