Cathay will fly only 2% of normal passenger capacity as Hong Kong remains sealed off

Cathay Pacific plans to continue operating at just minuscule levels as its home city remains largely cut off from the rest of the world. Hong Kong's flagship airline said Wednesday that it would likely only be able to maintain 2% of passenger flight capacity, and less than one third of its cargo flight load, compared to pre-pandemic levels due to rigorous government restrictions.

"We have had an extremely challenging start to 2022," Chairman Patrick Healy said in the company's earnings presentation.

He noted that Hong Kong recently tightened quarantine measures for aircrew and placed temporary flight bans on some of Cathay's top markets, including the United States and United Kingdom, over the emergence of the Omicron variant. That came after the carrier only flew about 2,000 passengers on average in 2021, down from 100,000 during pre-pandemic times.

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