Hong Kong Airlines (HKA), which has been plagued by fiscal woes, is to completely withdraw from the North American market, following a latest round of capacity cuts.
Hong Kong Airlines (HKA), which has been plagued by fiscal woes, is to completely withdraw from the North American market, following a latest round of capacity cuts.
It will axe Vancouver — its last North American point — from 12 February next year. This follows the suspension of flights to Los Angeles days earlier on 8 February, and an earlier withdrawal from serving San Francisco.
Cirium schedules data indicates the carrier serves Vancouver twice weekly with A350-900s between both cities.
HKA will also suspend Tianjin from 10 February, and Ho Chi Minh City from 20 February.
The move to cut capacity follows a network strategy review under which the airline will focus on “priority routes” in its network.
“While the airline has already reduced its capacity and flights in the coming months, weak travel demand continues to affect its business and revenue,” says HKA, attributing its woes to the “challenging business environment” caused by the ongoing unrest in its home city.
Earlier this month, the carrier said it was cutting capacity by 6% as its financial problems mounted. It also adjusted frequencies to nine other points in its network, including Osaka, Okinawa, Tokyo and Bangkok.
Separately, the South China Morning Post is reporting that Hong Kong’s Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) has met with HKA again, to discuss the airline’s financial situation.
ATLA, which has the authority to revoke an airline’s licence on deeming it to have failed to meet applicable regulations, confirmed FlightGlobal’s queries that the meeting took place. “[The authority] will make an announcement as soon as possible,” it adds.
The meeting was called for HKA’s management to “report the airline’s latest financial situation in detail”.
It also comes amid reports that the airline had failed to pay the November salaries of some of its staff, delaying payment till the first week of December.
To this, the ATLA says: “[We are] extremely concerned about the inability of [HKA] to make salary payment to some of its staff as scheduled for November 2019.”
“[We] will evaluate the information and explanation to be provided by HKA, and will consider whether there is a need to take appropriate action(s),” it adds.
A month ago, ATLA said HKA’s financial state “showed no sign of improvement”, and that it has been monitoring the situation closely. The two sides last met on 25 October, after which ATLA laid out the ultimatum for the airline to shape up or face consequences.
Story updated with ATLA’s statement.
