Hong Kong airlines to cut jobs and forcing staff to take unpaid leave

Hong Kong Airlines A350 getting airborne from Hong Kong International Airport

Hong Kong Airlines has asked their staff to take 2 weeks unpaid leave each month until the end of June, or to work 3 days a week in the same period. At the same time the company says they are planning to slash 400 jobs completely from the airline.

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SpiceJet cancels flights to Hong Kong temporarily

SpiceJet has announced that they are temporarily canceling all flights between Delhi and Hong Kong until the 29th of February 2020. This is a lot shorter that most other operators (most other airlines who have canceled has done so until late March or April), so I think there is a good chance that we will see further extensions to this suspension as well.

Royal Brunei cancels most flights to Hong Kong until March 27th

Royal Brunei has announced that they are canceling most of their flights between Brunei and Hong Kong until the 27th of March due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Their schedule seems to indicate that they are still operating a couple of flights per week, so if you are planning to travel with them, check their website before making alternative arrangements.

Update on travel restrictions as of February 15.

Below is a list of travel restrictions with reference to the COVID19 (coronavisus) outbreak.

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Qantas reducing flights to Hong Kong

Qantas A380 first class on-board lounge.

Qantas is temporarily reducing capacity between Australia and Hong Kong amid the Coronavirus (COVID19) outbreak.

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Cathay Pacific temporarily closes three Hong Kong airport lounges

Cathay Pacific has announced that they will temporarily close three of their lounges at Hong Kong International Airport.

The lounges closing will be The Pier First Class Lounge, The Bridge and the Deck Business class lounges.

This will still leave 3 lounges open for Cathay Pacific passengers, The Pier Business class lounge and the Wing First and Business class lounges.

The closure is due to a sharp drop in passenger numbers recently due to the COVID-19 virus outbreak.

United is further extending its suspension on flights between the US and Hong Kong

United Airlines Boeing 777-300 ER.

United Airlines had earlier announced that they would suspend flights between the US and Hong Kong until February 20th, however, they have now announced that the suspension is extended until April 24th.

American Airlines already announced them extending the suspension until late April, so this does not come as a surprise to anyone I believe.

El Al Israel Airlines temporarily cancels flights to Hong Kong.

El Al Israel Airlines has announced that they temporarily will cancel their 6 weekly flights between Hong Kong and Tel Aviv, Israel, until March 20th due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

HKIA starting to look empty

Cathay said they would reduce their flights by 30% due to the virus outbreak, but….

It looks like they are cancelling a lot more. They also said they would reduce their capacity to Mainland China by 90%, and that seems to be accurate.

Aircraft parked at Hong Kong International Airport.
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Philippine Airlines extends Hong Kong (and Macau and mainland China cancellations until March 28)

According to a statement on Philippine Airlines homepage this is the latest status for flights between the Philippines and Hong Kong:

Philippine Airlines has extended until March 28, 2020 the cancellation of flights between Manila and the following points in greater China: BEIJING, HONG KONG, GUANGZHOU, SHANGHAI, XIAMEN, QUANZHOU (JINJIANG) and MACAU.

Keep on reading!