Iberia airline’s CCO said on Thursday the Spain-based company was now more pessimistic than optimistic about the acquisition of its rival Air Europa after the latest regulatory setback in the half-billion-euro takeover bid. “We want to keep pushing for this, but the situation has grown ever more complicated,” Iberia CCO Maria Jesus Lopez said at an event on the future of aviation held in Madrid. Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority earlier this week said it would examine whether the E500m transaction would harm competition in the UK, setting Jan. 19 as the deadline for its initial decision. IAG said that it would cooperate with the CMA’s investigation. In a previous attempt to secure the deal, British Airways and Iberia owner International Airlines Group offered concessions to address EU antitrust concerns. The EU executive, which has not provided details in line with its policy, has extended its deadline for a decision on the deal to Jan. 4, casting doubts on whether the bid will go through.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific on Thursday (Nov 25) said it will slash passenger flights into Hong Kong next month as the city's strict travel curbs continue to keep international travellers away at a time when rivals are seeing their prospects improve. Hong Kong has maintained some of the world's harshest quarantine measures and travel restrictions during the pandemic, which has kept infections low but ensured a business hub that dubs itself "Asia's World City" has been cut off internationally for the past 20 months. The government has tied the city's fortunes to China's strict COVID-19 strategy and said normalisation of travel with the mainland must come before any reopening to the rest of the world. On Thursday, Cathay announced it was "cancelling a number of flights to Hong Kong" for December blaming "operational and travel restrictions that remain in place". As the peak holiday season approaches, the airline will convert around one-third of flights bound for Hong Kong to handle cargo, the South China Morning Post reported citing company sources. Outbound flights would remain untouched for now, with about 620 scheduled in December, the paper added. <br/>
One of Asia's largest airlines, Cathay Pacific, is facing a revolt from pilots who say Hong Kong's tough quarantine rules under its zero-COVID policies are endangering their mental health, leading to rising stress and resignations. Cathay Pacific Airways last week fired three pilots who breached company rules by leaving their hotel rooms during a layover in Frankfurt and later tested positive for COVID-19. The government responded by forcing more than 270 people, including school children linked to their families, into tiny quarters at a state quarantine camp. Some pilots declared themselves unfit to fly for their first rostered duties upon release. The extreme example of pandemic-related precautions under China's zero-COVID policy highlights the difficult working conditions facing Cathay pilots, all fully vaccinated, even as other Asian countries slowly reopen. Cathay rivals including Australia's Qantas have begun unwinding strict layover policies but the Hong Kong government is tightening rules further in line with the mainland, hoping to convince Beijing to allow cross-border travel. "I don't think I can keep this up," one Cathay pilot who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters. "Just the stress of potential quarantine of my family and friends is taking a toll." Several other current and recently departed Cathay pilots told Reuters morale was low and resignations were rising a year after many had their pay permanently cut by as much as 58%. Extreme stress is a significant issue in an industry where any sign of psychological problems can make it difficult to get another job.<br/>
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has revealed a private conversation between him and WA Premier Mark McGowan, in which the Premier promised that Perth-London flights could resume in 2022. The conversation is said to have occurred during a Telethon event last month, in which one of the auctioned prizes was a Qantas Perth-London flight. Joyce said he used the opportunity to press Premier McGowan on his plan to reopen his state, and allow Qantas to return to its iconic direct Perth-London route. Joyce said there was a “back up plan” in place for the winner of the auctioned ticket, in case WA’s border remained closed, which was to “fly people to Karratha ”, about 1,500km from Perth – a far stretch from 15,000km journey to London. The Qantas boss joked that Karratha was a great alternative, “because that’s the closest physically you can get to London [in WA] and there’s a good English pub there where you can be served a warm beer.” “So then I said to the Premier, ‘So what are we actually selling in the auction – a London ticket or a Karratha ticket?’ – and he said ‘you’re selling a London ticket, we’ll be open again’.”<br/>