Cathay Pacific announces 7 day suspension of long-haul cargo operations

31 / 12 / 2021

By Damian Brett

Cathay Pacific Cargo B747F

Cathay Pacific has suspended all long-haul freighter and cargo-only passenger flights to and from Hong Kong until January 6.

The Hong Kong carrier said the move was in response to recently announced more stringent quarantine requirements for Hong Kong-based cargo crews.

The suspension applies to all long-haul cargo flights covering the transpacific, Europe, South West Pacific, Riyadh, and Dubai.

“We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused. We will be working with customers to mitigate the disruption as much as possible,” the airline’s cargo division stated.

“In addition, we are working with the relevant stakeholders on plans beyond 6 January and will communicate further on these as soon as possible.”

On December 28, the carrier had warned that the new crew restrictions could affect operations through the first quarter.

“Operational and travel restrictions that remain in place continue to constrain our ability to operate flights as planned,” the carrier said.

“We are consolidating our cargo flight schedule for the first quarter of 2022. There will be reductions to long-haul freighter and cargo-only passenger flight capacity.

“We regret that contracted tonnage will be impacted during this time. Our local sales teams will communicate specific details with affected customers directly.”

The BBC reports that some passenger flights have also been affected by the changes.

The move comes as Hong Kong battles the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus.