Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Airlines is to make significant operational cuts in February and March, as it blames “negligence” in flight scheduling, coupled with new aircraft delivery delays.
In a statement on 22 January, the carrier says it will cancel 128 flights through the two-month period, which is expected to impact around 5,500 passengers.
“Due to the delay in new aircraft delivery and the need for regular inspection of some of our existing aircraft, our overall flight schedule has been impacted,” the airline adds.
Following an internal review, Greater Bay Airlines - the city’s newest and smallest operator - says: “[Negligence] was found in our flight scheduling process. We have also taken immediate action to tighten up the relevant approval procedure for flight scheduling”.
The airline, which began operations in mid-2022, adds that flights during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday period in end-January will not be affected by the cuts.
Greater Bay Airlines adds that it is looking to suspend operations to Seoul amid tepid demand. It notes that “the business performance” on the route, which it operates daily, has not been “satisfactory”.
It currently flies to 12 cities from Hong Kong, including Bangkok, Tokyo Narita, as well as Yichang and Zhoushan in Mainland China.
The airline currently operates a fleet of eight Boeing 737-800s. In 2023, it placed an order for 15 737 Max 9s, the first of which was to have been delivered in 2024.
However, ongoing production delays at Boeing have pushed the delivery timeline back. On the airline’s website, it now says the first Max 9 will be delivered in 2025.
“We will seriously learn from the experience and review the relevant arrangements to avoid occurrence of similar situations,” says the operator.
Hong Kong’s transport secretary Mable Chan has expressed “concern” over the cancellations and ordered the airline to “deal with the incident as soon as possible”. The city’s transport ministry will also meet with airline representatives to better understand the situation.
