Cathay’s slide in traffic eases, but significant challenges remain

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., one of the most high-profile corporate casualties of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, said it expects business to remain tough this year.

“We continue to see a significant shortfall for the period after Chinese New Year, especially from inbound traffic,” Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement, referring to the national holidays that are at the end of January this year. “2020 will continue to present us with a highly challenging operating environment,” he said.

The airline and its unit Cathay Dragon carried 2.99 million passengers in December, a drop of 3.6% from a year earlier, according to the statement. The decline in November was more severe at 9%. Inbound traffic plunged 46% last month, the same as November.

“Sentiment for travel into Hong Kong was particularly weak on our regional routes such as mainland China, Taiwan and Japan,” Lam said. Outbound demand fell 4% on-year.

Cathay again warned that its second-half profit would be “significantly” lower than the first as it was badly hit by months of protests. In addition to suffering a slowdown in business, the airline faced a clampdown from Chinese regulators after some of its employees took part in demonstrations.

Cathay in November said it would cut overall seat capacity by 1.4% this year, rather than an initial plan for 3.1% growth.