Hong Kong Airlines’ halts ticket sales to Auckland

Troubled Hong Kong Airlines has halted ticket sales to Auckland, casting doubt on another of its long-haul destinations as its bid to challenge Cathay Pacific Airways crumbles. In the first sign it may pull out of New Zealand, the carrier, backed by China’s debt-burdened HNA Group, stopped selling tickets for non-stop flights to the country’s biggest city in recent days. The airline declined to comment pending an announcement, understood to be planned for Thursday. Financial concerns, questions from authorities over its money problems, debt repayment fears – since overcome – an exodus of top management and directors and lawsuits linked to the company have placed the carrier under scrutiny for months. Early this week, the airline stopped ticket sales beyond May 22 until October 26, and then on Tuesday, it closed reservations from October 27 onwards, around the start of the new airline scheduling period, which runs until March 2020. Flight-schedule tracker Airlineroute said the carrier had closed reservations from November 1, which implied a route cancellation was imminent.<br/>