Cathay Pacific to operate skeleton passenger flight schedule in January, with ongoing reductions throughout Q1.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/ ... edule.html

To add to CX troubles, Hong Kong has banned transit passengers from more than 100 countries until February 15. This includes key markets like US, UK, Japan, Australia.

https://www.reuters.com/article/health- ... AP8N2TS007

And even worse there having cargo and other troubles, discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1468391&p=23126023&hilit=Cathay+Pacific#p23126023

interesting read since there are Cathay and ex-Cathay employees voicing their concern for the company.

Cathay is offering bonus payments to pilots as an incentive to get more planes in the air.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... eep-flying

Cathay start selling health insurance plan with Cigna
https://www.cathaypacific.com/en_HK/wel ... rance.html

Don't think this was posted yet...from few days ago:
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hea ... attendants

Yep, keep scapegoating...coming from the same government that's killing pet hamsters (and other small animals). Talk about a repressive police state.

EDIT:

LAXintl wrote:

Cathay Pacific to operate skeleton passenger flight schedule in January, with ongoing reductions throughout Q1.

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/ ... edule.html

And the difference in outbound flight vs. inbound is telling - there's basically zero inbound flights from anywhere outside of mainland.

AngMoh wrote:

Cathay is offering bonus payments to pilots as an incentive to get more planes in the air.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... eep-flying

This is not a bonus.

The salary is productivity based, with the closed loop rostering there is a period of 21 days where no flying is undertaken whilst in quarantine. The payment is supposed to compensate for that loss of 21 days flying, however in reality fails to do so.

zeke wrote:

AngMoh wrote:

Cathay is offering bonus payments to pilots as an incentive to get more planes in the air.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... eep-flying

This is not a bonus.

The salary is productivity based, with the closed loop rostering there is a period of 21 days where no flying is undertaken whilst in quarantine. The payment is supposed to compensate for that loss of 21 days flying, however in reality fails to do so.

21 days in quarantine? Where is the science in that?

Don’t get me started…..

HK government expected to approve the transfer of 46 remaining route rights held by Cathay Dragon to Cathay and HK Express.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/tra ... s-operated

Cathay forecasts lower than expected loss for 2021 but expects to increase cash burn for coming months due to stricter quarantine restrictions.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/busines ... ed-2455091

flight152 wrote:

zeke wrote:

AngMoh wrote:

Cathay is offering bonus payments to pilots as an incentive to get more planes in the air.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... eep-flying

This is not a bonus.

The salary is productivity based, with the closed loop rostering there is a period of 21 days where no flying is undertaken whilst in quarantine. The payment is supposed to compensate for that loss of 21 days flying, however in reality fails to do so.

21 days in quarantine? Where is the science in that?

The risk of Covid being brought in by inbound passengers/crew reduces the longer the quarantine. It never drops to zero. Previously it was 14 days, then someone tested positive after 16 days or so. Most other countries accept a small degree of risk and mandate quarantine of 10/7/5 days. Since China aims for Covid 0 21 days will stay for now. If someone tests positive after 22 days then we may see an extension of the quarantine

I have seen no scientific data to suggest it takes 16 days for covid to present. I would suggest a day 16 result is related to catching covid in quarantine

zeke wrote:

I have seen no scientific data to suggest it takes 16 days for covid to present. I would suggest a day 16 result is related to catching covid in quarantine

The other way is the PCR test detecting the body shedding parts of virus (but no active virus) post infection. This can happen even 2-3 months after the infection and depends also on how sensitive the PCR test has been set up as well as how severe the original infection was.

Singapore has announced that for vaccine travel lanes, they will not do the on-arrival PCR as well as pre-departure test for those who are fully vaccinated and have recovered 7-90 days from infection. This is probably due to the number of false positives from people who have been recently infected.

flight152 wrote:

zeke wrote:

AngMoh wrote:

Cathay is offering bonus payments to pilots as an incentive to get more planes in the air.

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east- ... eep-flying

This is not a bonus.

The salary is productivity based, with the closed loop rostering there is a period of 21 days where no flying is undertaken whilst in quarantine. The payment is supposed to compensate for that loss of 21 days flying, however in reality fails to do so.

21 days in quarantine? Where is the science in that?

The current policy in Hong Kong for general vaccinated inbound travelers require 21 days in quarantine + 7 days self health management + continuous testing up to the 26th days after arrival
https://www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/inbo ... emeasures2

Saw an photo on IG, the last B77W of the BOC Aviation lot to be leased to Qatar Airways is painted all-white earlier this month B-KPP MSN 36164/ Line #: 845. In total QR took four ex-CX B77Ws.
B-KPL 36161 / 818 A7-BOB
B-KPM 36159 / 835 A7-BOA
B-KPN 36165 / 839 A7-BOD
B-KPP 36164 / 845 A7-BOC

Source: airfleets.net

RoyalBrunei757 wrote:

Saw an photo on IG, the last B77W of the BOC Aviation lot to be leased to Qatar Airways is painted all-white earlier this month B-KPP MSN 36164/ Line #: 845. In total QR took four ex-CX B77Ws.
B-KPL 36161 / 818 A7-BOB
B-KPM 36159 / 835 A7-BOA
B-KPN 36165 / 839 A7-BOD
B-KPP 36164 / 845 A7-BOC

Source: airfleets.net

B-KPP just landed a couple of hours ago into DOH.

I know this isn't necessarily news ... but a good friend of mine recently traveled SFO-HKG as he was connecting to Beijing as a broadcaster for the Winter Olymipcs. He and his colleague were the only two passengers on the flight. So sad ... it seems like just yesterday when I traveled BOS-HKG and the flight was full of business people, tourists, and parents visiting kids who were working in Hong Kong.

Does anyone know why CX is not flying to Singapore in December of 2022? I seem to be unable to book a connecting flight SFO-HKG-SIN. I also tried November. Normally they'd have schedules out by then.

The 77Ws seem to be leaving the fleet at quite a rate at the moment. Understandable I guess.

Can someone in the know please expand on the situation with the transfers to Qatar? Are these just Cathay Pacific aircraft leased to Qatar or is it Cathay Pacific aircraft returned to the lessor and subsequently leased to Qatar?

zkojq wrote:

Can someone in the know please expand on the situation with the transfers to Qatar? Are these just Cathay Pacific aircraft leased to Qatar or is it Cathay Pacific aircraft returned to the lessor and subsequently leased to Qatar?

Nothing to do with cx these are frames that were returned to lessors by Cx. I think the majority of 77Ws were leased, think I recall 19 owned.

zeke wrote:

zkojq wrote:

Can someone in the know please expand on the situation with the transfers to Qatar? Are these just Cathay Pacific aircraft leased to Qatar or is it Cathay Pacific aircraft returned to the lessor and subsequently leased to Qatar?

Nothing to do with cx these are frames that were returned to lessors by Cx. I think the majority of 77Ws were leased, think I recall 19 owned.

Thanks!

I have a ticket for my first trip back to Australia in 3 years for this coming July on CX and I have to say, part of me isn't feeling at all confident that it's going to take off at all...and not because of pandemic-induced reasons.

boston5555 wrote:

I know this isn't necessarily news ... but a good friend of mine recently traveled SFO-HKG as he was connecting to Beijing as a broadcaster for the Winter Olymipcs. He and his colleague were the only two passengers on the flight. So sad ... it seems like just yesterday when I traveled BOS-HKG and the flight was full of business people, tourists, and parents visiting kids who were working in Hong Kong.

Well... Regular pax without special approval can't transit at HKG to China nor get into HKG from USA (residents included) at the moment so I guess your friend and his colleague are basically the only person who can get the approval to be on that flight.

AnsettB727 wrote:

I have a ticket for my first trip back to Australia in 3 years for this coming July on CX and I have to say, part of me isn't feeling at all confident that it's going to take off at all...and not because of pandemic-induced reasons.

Flights out should be ok, it’s the flights in and the stays of everyone on the aircraft is unknown. The recent change back to 14 days quarantine is a step in the correct direction.

I had a ticket booked Australia > Europe with CX ivia Hong Kong. I cancelled it for a refund over the weekend as don't need the uncertainty.

HK Flight ban for Australia/UK/Canada/USA/France/India/Pakistan/Philippines extended to the 4th of March, with Nepal being added to the list too

Source in Chinese: https://www2.hkej.com/instantnews/curre ... AePzHUwlgQ

How many CX A350's have had paint issues a la QR and which ones ? CX is said to be one of the other airlines affected by this.

VRHNM wrote:

HK Flight ban for Australia/UK/Canada/USA/France/India/Pakistan/Philippines extended to the 4th of March, with Nepal being added to the list too

You would hope it doesn't last much past then, HK is already unusual by keeping this in place considering most places are now reopening to one extent or another. Even fortress Australia is lowering the drawbridge. Any extension past 4th March will be a big surprise - hell, this one is already surprise enough.

TC957 wrote:

How many CX A350's have had paint issues a la QR and which ones ? CX is said to be one of the other airlines affected by this.

None, CX had some aircraft with paint peel, that normally happened soon after delivery, generally under the belly where the panels are screwed on. I had seen triangular areas around 12” wide and 20” long where the white polyurethane paint detached from the undercoat. Generally it seems to start from an edge of a panel and work towards the rear. This was relatively easy to restore during a normal check, panel removed, repainted and reinstalled.

I recently saw an article on flightglobal.com saying that CX is "expected to return to profitability in 2022."
Is that even close to realistic? Considering that they are just operating 2% of their pre-pandemic capacity. Are they betting on HK's restrictions not going past March 4th?

I have no clue how CX will return to profitability any time soon at this rate.

https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/c ... 93.article

acavpics wrote:

I recently saw an article on flightglobal.com saying that CX is "expected to return to profitability in 2022."
Is that even close to realistic? Considering that they are just operating 2% of their pre-pandemic capacity. Are they betting on HK's restrictions not going past March 4th?

I have no clue how CX will return to profitability any time soon at this rate.

https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/c ... 93.article

They beat up the pilot group bad enough so maybe that's part of the reason? Many of the poor blokes left can't even support their families in HK.

I also wouldn't trust HSBC's comments. They've leaned more and more into being a puppet for HK's government.

acavpics wrote:

I recently saw an article on flightglobal.com saying that CX is "expected to return to profitability in 2022."
Is that even close to realistic? Considering that they are just operating 2% of their pre-pandemic capacity. Are they betting on HK's restrictions not going past March 4th?

I have no clue how CX will return to profitability any time soon at this rate.

https://www.flightglobal.com/strategy/c ... 93.article

CX was close to breaking even late last year, primarily due to cargo revenue. However, the forecast was that the burn rate would increase from December onward due to the new restrictions imposed by the HK government.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60107282

To me HSBC is guessing by the end of the year they might be cash positive, but I can not see them profitable over the whole year. The problem with restoring flight schedules is that in the beginning costs (especially fuel) go up fast while revenue will lag behind. The only way that CX has a low loss for 2021 has to be that all costs have been cut to the bone and whatever is left they fly at a profit for that specific route only. Cargo rates have gone up and HKG is still the biggest cargo hub in East Asia, even with all restrictions.

The HSBC report would have been compiled before this "5th wave" hit HKG, and based on how things were going it did look positive for CX but pretty much as they released the report, this wave started which has been far more serious than previous ones (relatively anyway). The report wouldn't have known how bad the restrictions would become for CX.

CX Flyboy wrote:

The HSBC report would have been compiled before this "5th wave" hit HKG, and based on how things were going it did look positive for CX but pretty much as they released the report, this wave started which has been far more serious than previous ones (relatively anyway). The report wouldn't have known how bad the restrictions would become for CX.

The report was released on Feb 7th well into the "fifth wave" (when around several hundred cases per day), and after the latest restrictions were imposed on CX.

https://asianaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/HSBC-Cathay-Pacific-Report.pdf

iridescent wrote:

CX Flyboy wrote:

The HSBC report would have been compiled before this "5th wave" hit HKG, and based on how things were going it did look positive for CX but pretty much as they released the report, this wave started which has been far more serious than previous ones (relatively anyway). The report wouldn't have known how bad the restrictions would become for CX.

The report was released on Feb 7th well into the "fifth wave" (when around several hundred cases per day), and after the latest restrictions were imposed on CX.

https://asianaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/HSBC-Cathay-Pacific-Report.pdf

Released, yes but how long were they working on it and how much of it had been written weeks prior to the release?

executivetraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-launch-the-world-s-longest-flight

The proposed New York-Hong Kong flight would be rerouted to avoid the Russian airspace which would take 16-17 hours [16,618km].
If successful, it will beat the current Singapore Airlines Singapore-New York JFK record [15,349km]. I am assuming there will be a Guinness World Records for Cathay Pacific if this mission can be accomplished.

Is ultra long haul the right thing to do in times of a very high oil price?

I thought chinese airlines were still flying over Russia? Or why is Cathay avoiding russian airspace?

SYD330 wrote:

executivetraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-launch-the-world-s-longest-flight

The proposed New York-Hong Kong flight would be rerouted to avoid the Russian airspace which would take 16-17 hours [16,618km].
If successful, it will beat the current Singapore Airlines Singapore-New York JFK record [15,349km]. I am assuming there will be a Guinness World Records for Cathay Pacific if this mission can be accomplished.

SQ is also avoiding Russian airspace. Yesterday's SQ23 JFK-SIN flight was 18:31 and last week it was over 19:00 as it went over Egypt. It should still be a much longer flight. 15,349 is great circle distance which goes straight over Russia.

ReverseFlow wrote:

I thought chinese airlines were still flying over Russia? Or why is Cathay avoiding russian airspace?

It's just Cathay and no one else

I won't dive into political side of it.

Michael

Probably because Swire is a London based company and isn't allowed into Russian airspace or doesn't want to give them money for fees as part of a global boycott.

AngMoh wrote:

SYD330 wrote:

executivetraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-launch-the-world-s-longest-flight

The proposed New York-Hong Kong flight would be rerouted to avoid the Russian airspace which would take 16-17 hours [16,618km].
If successful, it will beat the current Singapore Airlines Singapore-New York JFK record [15,349km]. I am assuming there will be a Guinness World Records for Cathay Pacific if this mission can be accomplished.

SQ is also avoiding Russian airspace. Yesterday's SQ23 JFK-SIN flight was 18:31 and last week it was over 19:00 as it went over Egypt. It should still be a much longer flight. 15,349 is great circle distance which goes straight over Russia.

I love to fly but there is no way I could do 19 hours in coach. Gross.

eamondzhang wrote:

ReverseFlow wrote:

I thought chinese airlines were still flying over Russia? Or why is Cathay avoiding russian airspace?

It's just Cathay and no one else

I won't dive into political side of it.

Michael

There’s Chinese airlines that are still flying over Russia right now. China eastern flight from Shanghai to Paris is currently over Russian airspace

AngMoh wrote:

SYD330 wrote:

executivetraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-launch-the-world-s-longest-flight

The proposed New York-Hong Kong flight would be rerouted to avoid the Russian airspace which would take 16-17 hours [16,618km].
If successful, it will beat the current Singapore Airlines Singapore-New York JFK record [15,349km]. I am assuming there will be a Guinness World Records for Cathay Pacific if this mission can be accomplished.

SQ is also avoiding Russian airspace. Yesterday's SQ23 JFK-SIN flight was 18:31 and last week it was over 19:00 as it went over Egypt. It should still be a much longer flight. 15,349 is great circle distance which goes straight over Russia.

Just an estimate isn't that 17.000 km + ?

TWA302 wrote:

AngMoh wrote:

SYD330 wrote:

executivetraveller.com/news/cathay-pacific-to-launch-the-world-s-longest-flight

The proposed New York-Hong Kong flight would be rerouted to avoid the Russian airspace which would take 16-17 hours [16,618km].
If successful, it will beat the current Singapore Airlines Singapore-New York JFK record [15,349km]. I am assuming there will be a Guinness World Records for Cathay Pacific if this mission can be accomplished.

SQ is also avoiding Russian airspace. Yesterday's SQ23 JFK-SIN flight was 18:31 and last week it was over 19:00 as it went over Egypt. It should still be a much longer flight. 15,349 is great circle distance which goes straight over Russia.

I love to fly but there is no way I could do 19 hours in coach. Gross.

The SQ A350ULR doesn't have coach: https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Singa ... 900ULR.php

Here is the approximate route flown by SQ23 recently, 17300km. JFK-HKG following a similar route would be about 1000km shorter

Based on flightaware , the actual distance from SIN to EWR is 16500-16700 km and EWR to SIN is 17000km

HKG to JKF going the other way over Alaska, skirting Russia airspace is quite a bit shorter, around 14,000km. Why would they fly the long way in this case? Prevailing winds?