Cathay Pacific to axe host of long-haul flights in response to crew quarantine plan

Cathay is axing all Australia flights except Sydney, while services to Vancouver, San Francisco and Frankfurt are also among routes culled in response to a Hong Kong government plan to force local flight staff to quarantine for 14 days. The airline announced its tentative plan late on Wednesday in response to the isolation rule that would apply to local crew who have stayed outside China. Cathay is unable to run its already reduced Covid-19 flight schedule with a limited number of volunteer staff to maintain an optimal pandemic schedule. Flights will start to be reduced from the start of the quarantine period, spanning February 20 through to the end of the month. Among the long-haul destinations to be cut are Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Auckland, Frankfurt, Vancouver, San Francisco and Amsterdam. A one-way Hong Kong-Tel Aviv route will operate once during the initial flight reduction period. Services to Seoul, Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City are also being scrapped. Cathay will operate a single, one-way flight from Hong Kong to both Cebu and Kaohsiung, according to the schedule. Flights in the region that will go ahead are: Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Jakarta, Surabaya, Osaka, Tokyo, Manila, Singapore and Bangkok. Surviving longer-haul flights include: Sydney, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, plus flights one-way from Hong Kong to London and one-way from Amsterdam to Hong Kong.<br/>