Cathay Pacific suspends services between Auckland and Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific was using a A350-1000 for some NZ flights last summer. Photo / Grant Bradley

Cathay Pacific is suspending twice weekly services between Hong Kong and Auckland because of tough new quarantine requirements for aircrew in the territory.

From the end of next week Hong Kong-based pilots and cabin crew are required to undergo 14 days of hotel quarantine plus seven days of medical surveillance when they return to Hong Kong after being on duty.

The airline's already shrunken schedule is being further reduced around the world because of the new measures.

"For affected passengers, you will be notified and we are very sorry for this unexpected change to your travel plans," the airline says.

"We are actively managing our crew resources to plan for our flight services for March. Your patience and understanding are appreciated."

More updates would be posted by Cathay Pacific by February 22.

Passenger numbers on the airline were down by 98.7 per cent compared to the year before.

A year ago - before the pandemic struck - the airline had been operating two flights a day between Auckland and Hong Kong, as well as Christchurch services.

After suspending services last winter, in November it started its limited passenger services using Boeing 777 aircraft.

The South China Morning Post reports that among other long-haul destinations to be cut are Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne, Frankfurt, Vancouver, San Francisco
and Amsterdam.

Cathay warned last month the quarantine measures could force it to cut passenger flight capacity by 60 per cent and mean up to HK$400 million (US$51.6 million) in lost revenue.

It is already losing HK$1 billion to HK$1.5 billion a month.

The airline had been a fixture in this country for decades. The first scheduled service between Hong Kong and New Zealand was a joint venture in November 1982 between Cathay Pacific, Air Niugini and Air New Zealand.

Around the world total airline capacity has fallen again.

Capacity for the month of February is currently 47.4 per cent below February 2020, and 14.3 per cent (35 million seats) lower than last month, according to figures from OAG.

The greatest decrease in the last month has been seen in Asia Pacific where carriers have taken 17.3 million seats out of the schedule.