Cathay Pacific to reduce size of chartered fleet
Cathay Pacific Airways today announced it would release three of its chartered aircraft at the weekend as operations continue to improve despite the ongoing threat of industrial action by its pilots' union. The three aircraft are a Boeing 747-400 and two Boeing 777-200s, all operated by Air China. Cathay Pacific will look to release more of the 14 remaining chartered aircraft over the coming week as the airline's full schedule is gradually restored.
Cathay Pacific's network has stabilised significantly since operations were disrupted last weekend by the AOA's threat of industrial action and the impact of Typhoon Utor. Today the airline is operating 128 flights out of its original schedule of 145. A number of steps have been taken over the past week to minimise delays and cancellations caused by the AOA's Hong Kong disruption plan, including chartering aircraft and temporarily trimming its operating schedule.
Cathay Pacific is in the process of restoring services to a number of destinations which have been suspended. Flights to Hanoi resumed yesterday and those to Perth will resume tomorrow. The airline is looking to reinstate all remaining suspended destinations as soon as possible.
Cathay Pacific's Director Corporate Development Tony Tyler said: "We are making steady progress towards resuming our full normal schedule and for this reason we will return three of the aircraft we originally chartered. Of course we remain vigilant in case the AOA decide to escalate their industrial action again. We apologise to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the disruptions of the past week."
Cathay Pacific recommends that passengers booked on flights over the next few days check the latest flight details on its Website or call its passenger enquiry hotlines or their travel agent before going to the airport. The hotlines will remain open until 11:00pm tonight:
Update flight information is always available on www.cathaypacific.com.
English-language hotline: 2747 8999
