The Hong Kong airline, one of the world’s top airfreight carriers, plans to reduce its passenger and cargo flight schedules in the first quarter of 2022 as the tighter measures restrict operations.
Andy Wong, general manager of corporate affairs, said Cathay Pacific is “wary” of additional quarantine arrangements beyond those announced Tuesday that would lead to flight reductions.
“Such action would, in turn, cause dramatic disruptions to supply chains in the short term, jeopardising the adequate supply of essential goods in an already scarce supply chain environment, impacting the livelihoods of thousands of people in Hong Kong and undermining Hong Kong International Airport as a leading cargo hub,” Wong said in a statement to Nikkei Asia.
Hong Kong is intensifying efforts to maintain its “zero-Covid” strategy as the omicron variant of the coronavirus spreads across the globe. The government is also considering tightened quarantine measures for regular aircrews, said Dr Edwin Tsui, controller of the city’s Center for Health Protection.
“We have to balance between the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and the cargo operation,” Tsui said.
Hong Kong International Airport led the world in air cargo volume for years before dropping to second place in 2020.
US freight company FedEx decided last month to relocate all its Hong Kong-based pilots without exiting the market, threatening to undercut the city’s reputation as an Asian gateway.
This risk comes as Beijing promotes Hong Kong’s status as an international aviation hub in China’s 14th Five Year Plan.
Hong Kong’s Transport and Housing Bureau said in a statement to Nikkei Asia on Wednesday morning that the government had reviewed the aircrew quarantine rules “with a view to maintaining smooth air cargo services into and out of Hong Kong and addressing the basic daily needs of society, while safeguarding public health”.
“It is necessary to ensure that the essential air cargo services into and out of Hong Kong would not be unduly disrupted so that the normal operation of Hong Kong’s economy can be maintained,” it said.
Hong Kong has adopted strict Covid-19 measures in a bid to reopen its land border for quarantine-free travel with mainland China. But aligning Hong Kong’s border control with the mainland has led some foreign businesses to threaten to leave the city.
University of Hong Kong Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, a government adviser on Covid-19, said earlier Tuesday that a zero-Covid strategy was unsustainable.
“It’s already two years of this. Continuing like this is not the right method. We can’t keep using this method. We must be on the offensive,” he said on a radio programme, advocating that the city adopt a vaccine passport to encourage inoculations.