[Global Times Reporter Zhao Juezheng Cheng Dong] The new crown epidemic that has been going on for more than a month has made Hong Kong's tourism and aviation industries already affected by the "regulation storm" even worse. In order to meet the immediate challenges and improve the financial situation, Hong Kong Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and other airlines have taken measures to reduce routes and introduce unpaid vacations. Among them, Hong Kong Airlines announced that it will lay off nearly 400 people.
According to the Hong Kong Economic Times, a Hong Kong Airlines spokesman said earlier that due to the ongoing flight and fleet adjustments, the demand for crew and logistics staff has decreased significantly. Port Airlines stated that it would reduce about 400 crew members and logistics staff in Hong Kong and overseas, and notified the affected crew members on the 19th. The affected cabin attendants were last hired on March 18. According to Singapore's "South China Morning Post", the number of layoffs is about 10% of the total number of Hong Kong Airlines employees.
In addition, Hong Kong Airlines also stated that in order to reduce the risk of crew members and passengers being exposed to the new crown virus and strengthen preventive measures, in addition to restricting cabin activities, on-board services will be temporarily adjusted, blankets and pillows will not be provided, and magazines and newspapers will not be provided. There is only water left on board for meals, including bottled water for business class passengers and boxed water for economy class passengers.
Hong Kong Airlines reported financial difficulties in December last year. The Hong Kong government issued a statement at the time, saying that Hong Kong Airlines ’financial problems“ deteriorated rapidly ”and asked the other party to explain whether it was able to obtain sufficient funds to maintain the company ’s normal operations before the deadline, otherwise it may Revoke its operating license. On December 7, last year, the Hong Kong Air Transport Licensing Authority decided not to take further action on Hong Kong Airlines for the time being, and the crisis of Hong Kong Airlines license revocation was temporarily lifted.
Other Hong Kong airlines, such as Cathay Pacific and its Dragonair business, were also affected by the new crown epidemic. Recently, Cathay Pacific announced that Cathay Dragon's passenger and freight volume consolidated settlement in January carried 3.01 million passengers during the month, down 3.8% year-on-year, and the passenger load factor fell 1.3 percentage points to 84.7%. "Hong Kong Economic Daily" said that although 2020 has just begun, Cathay Pacific customer and business president Lin Shaobo has announced in advance that the financial performance in the first half of 2020 is expected to be very challenging, and the performance will be much worse than the same period last year.
Lin Shaobo said that this year's Lunar New Year holiday is the most challenging in years. As the outbreak of new crown pneumonia in the Mainland became more severe after the Spring Festival holiday, tourism demand fell sharply. As more regions around the world impose restrictions on entry of mainland passengers, some measures also include Hong Kong travelers, and many passengers have cancelled their flight bookings. Lin Shaobo said that Cathay Dragon took a series of short-term measures to respond, mainly including drastically reducing the capacity of flights on the global network. In February and March, about 40% of the network passenger capacity has been reduced, which is more than the reduction announced earlier. It will continue to monitor the market and meet demand. It is also possible to reduce capacity in April.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on the 20th that thousands of flights have been cancelled due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and global passenger demand for airlines in the Asia-Pacific region will increase from the originally expected increase of 4.8% to a decline of 13%, the first decline since 2009. Asia-Pacific airlines are expected to lose $ 27.8 billion in revenue.
The new crown pneumonia epidemic continues to spread in Hong Kong. The work of more than 190 Hong Kong people on the “Princess Diamond” cruise ship has fallen behind, and the health of these people has attracted much attention. The Deputy Director of the Security Bureau, Ou Zhiguang, revealed that among the 23 people admitted in Japan that they had disembarked without a virus test, they did not include Hong Kong people. According to Hong Kong's "Oriental Daily" reported on the 24th, returnees stayed in Fotan Junyang Village Quarantine Center for quarantine for 14 days. Only 4 people were admitted to the first batch of quarantine centers, and the first confirmed case has appeared. On the evening of the 23rd, four more returning persons from the "Diamond Princess" cruise ship made a preliminary diagnosis. The Centre for Health Protection announced on the 24th that five new cases of new coronavirus have been diagnosed in Hong Kong, and the total number of cases has increased to 79. Two of these patients were passengers of the Diamond Princess who returned to Hong Kong for quarantine.
In order to strengthen epidemic prevention, 118 "Hong Kong version of Vulcan Mountain" quarantine units were quickly completed at Lei Yue Men Park Resort. Hong Kong Headline Daily reported on the 24th that each unit has an area of about 15 square meters and has independent toilets. The project was undertaken by China Construction, and the Food and Health Bureau submitted documents to the Legislative Council earlier that it would build a total of 450 quarantine units in the form of modular houses.