Cathay Pacific cuts 2020 capacity plan as Hong Kong unrest continues

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific Airways plans to cut passenger flight capacity by 1.4% next year, reversing an earlier plan for a boost of 3.1% because of a challenging business outlook, an internal memo reviewed by Reuters showed. The capacity reduction follows Cathay Pacific cutting its second-half profit guidance earlier this month, the second cutback in less than a month, because of anti-government protests that began in Hong Kong in June that have discouraged travel to the city. “Given the immediate commercial challenges and the fact that our position has deteriorated in recent weeks, we must take swift action to adjust our budget operating plan for 2020 downwards again,” CE Augustus Tang said. “Put another way, rather than growing our airlines in 2020, for the first time in a long time, our airlines will reduce in size.” Revenue performance continues to be disappointing and advance bookings into 2020 remain much lower than expected due to weak traffic from some of its key markets, particularly mainland China, the memo said.<br/>