Cathay Pacific has warned its H1 results for 2020 will be “significantly down” compared to the same period last year, as the outbreak of the coronavirus compounds an already challenging market. In releasing its traffic figures for January, the carrier also announced further capacity cuts across its network – for February and March. The carrier, along with its Cathay Dragon unit, will slash passenger capacity by 40%. This, the carrier notes, is an even deeper cut than the 30% capacity reduction it announced earlier this month. Cathay and Cathay Dragon combined carried just over 3m passengers in January, a 3.8% decrease year-on-year. The carrier cut capacity as measured in ASKs by 0.3%, while traffic in terms of RPK fell 1.8%. As a result, passenger load factor for January fell by 1.3 percentage points to 84.7%. <br/>
oneworld
MAS has signed a codesharing agreement with LATAM Airlines, extending its reach into South America starting this month. The Malaysian carrier will codeshare on LATAM-operated flights from points in Australia and New Zealand to Santiago, and LATAM will codeshare on Malaysia-operated flights to Kuala Lumpur. Cirium schedules data shows that this is the first codeshare between Malaysia and LATAM, which are members of the Oneworld. LATAM though is leaving Oneworld in May, after striking a joint venture deal with Delta Air Lines to replace its regulator-blocked planned tie-up with Oneworld partners American Airlines and British Airways. <br/>