BA can only survive if Government works with it, including through support for airport Covid-19 testing, according to the carrier’s CE and chairman Alex Cruz. “These are the toughest times in the history of the aviation industry,” said Cruz as four more countries are added to the UK’s travel 'red list'. “Coronavirus has hit our business hard, and the sector is fighting for its very survival,” he adds. “What is hugely frustrating is that we know people want to travel, to fly, whether to see friends or family, to see business contacts face-to-face or to recharge on the beach, but without a rigorous, reliable Coronavirus testing programme – together with a sensible approach to quarantine – people’s plans are being unnecessarily grounded.” Ongoing changes to the holiday quarantine-list have seen hundreds of thousands of Britons race back to the UK, or cancel trips, to avoid two-weeks of self-isolation at home. Portugal, Hungary, French Polynesia and Reunion are the latest four countries to face quarantine restrictions – it is just three weeks since Portugal was granted a travel corridor with the UK (Madeira and the Azores are exempt from quarantine rules for arrivals to England and Wales). <br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways said Friday it would not apply for further government employment subsidies for its main business units, freeing up its ability to make major job cuts at Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon. It has, however, applied for the support for budget carrier HK Express, Air Hong Kong, Cargo Terminal, Hong Kong Airport Service and Cathay Pacific Catering Services, the airline said. That financial support protects jobs from September to November, according to the government website. Cathay, which received a $5b rescue package led by the Hong Kong government, has so far refrained from large-scale job cuts but has warned it is reviewing all aspects of its business model with the results expected in Q4. Cathay and its units had around 27,000 employees globally at the end of 2019, according to its annual report. So far the group has cut jobs of around 400 overseas cabin crew and offered voluntary early retirement to pilots. "It is inevitable we will need to right-size our airlines to address the reduced travel market," Cathay General Manager Corporate Affairs Andy Wong said. "We continue to make decisions based on the long-term interests of the company and the Hong Kong aviation hub, to protect our future and as many people as possible."<br/>
From delivering in-flight meals to residents near the airport to promoting plane merchandise, the Covid-19 pandemic has sparked creative efforts among major airlines to compensate, if only slightly, for the loss of their biggest income stream – ticket sales. Cathay Pacific has started offering doorstep food deliveries to nearby homes in the Tung Chung community in recent weeks. Its catering arm used to prepare 83,000 meals for passengers on 293 flights a day, or an average of 283 meals per flight, but there are now just a few dozen Hong Kong flights per day. On average just 22 passengers per plane came through Hong Kong’s airport throughout August. The meals-on-wheels scheme initially only targeted airport workers, but has been expanded to cover the nearby Tung Chung district, offering simple in-flight food for those craving airline meals. “We understand that many people working in the airport area are interested in being able to easily buy takeaway lunch and dinner meals to maintain proper social distancing [and we are] offering such takeaway services to people within the airport community and Tung Chung neighbourhood,” a Cathay spokeswoman said. A similar tactic has also been adopted by rival airline caterer Gate Gourmet, which turned to deliverable meals for the airport community so its kitchens there could continue running. In recent weeks, Cathay Pacific has rolled out a new range of merchandise online based around its retired Boeing 747 workhorse, in an even greater effort to push the airline group’s e-commerce sales among its 12 million Asia Miles members worldwide.<br/>