Just days after Virgin Australia announced its withdrawal from Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific is significantly reducing its services between Hong Kong and Australia during March 2020.

Worldwide, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon have cancelled more than half of their flights over February and March this year. Many of the cancelled flights are to mainland China and Taiwan, but routes from Hong Kong to destinations all over the world are also affected. The airline says that the novel coronavirus outbreak has weakened demand in the region significantly.

Last week, Cathay Pacific asked its employees to each take three weeks of unpaid leave between March and June this year. Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines has just axed 400 jobs and temporarily reduced its number of daily flights from 82 to 30.

Cathay Pacific is also closing three of its lounges at Hong Kong Airport – The Bridge, The Deck and The Pier First Class Lounge – from 17 February 2020 until further notice.

Here is a summary of the changes to Cathay Pacific services between Australia and Hong Kong in March 2020. Note that this information is subject to change:

• Adelaide: Reduction from 4 to 2 weekly flights from 2-28 March 2020 (CX173/CX176 cancelled)
• Brisbane: Reduction from 11 to 7 weekly flights from 5-28 March 2020
• Melbourne: Reduction from 3 to 2 daily flights 1-26 March 2020 (CX134/CX135 cancelled)
• Perth: Reduction from 10 to 5 weekly flights from 1-28 March 2020 (CX144/143 cancelled & CX170/171 reduced from daily to 5x weekly)
• Sydney: Reduction from 4 daily flights to 18 weekly flights from 3-28 March 2020 (CX161/CX162 cancelled & CX110/CX111 reduced to 3 days per week)

Meanwhile, all Cathay Pacific services to London Gatwick, Rome, Milan, Newark, Washington and Malé have been suspended until at least the end of March.

Cathay Pacific will offer alternative flights to passengers booked on cancelled services. If you booked directly with Cathay Pacific, you can complete the re-booking on the Cathay Pacific website or call the airline to discuss your options.

Qantas has just suspended flights from Sydney to Shanghai, its only remaining destination in mainland China, until the end of March 2020. Many Chinese carriers have also significantly reduced service from mainland China to Australia over the coming months. But, so far, Qantas has not made any changes to its Hong Kong schedules.

Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Cathay to cut worldwide capacity by 30%

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.