Cathay Pacific has announced further cuts to its long-haul schedule for April, with 97% of planned passenger capacity now scrapped. The carrier had already announced on 20 March that it was reducing capacity by 96% for April and May. As part of what it terms a “bare skeleton” schedule, the airline will now operate twice-weekly services to London Heathrow, Los Angeles, Vancouver and Sydney, it said in a 3 April travel advisory. It had previously intended to fly to these destinations three times a week as part of a reduced schedule. The latest update indicates the carrier will fly three times a week to eight regional destinations, namely Tokyo Narita, Taipei, New Delhi, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore. Subsidiary Cathay Dragon will operate three flights a week to Beijing, Shanghai Pudong and Kuala Lumpur. “We will continue to monitor these flights closely and may make further reductions if necessary,” the carrier states. In a recent memo to staff, cited by various media outlets, Cathay said demand had collapsed to the point where it carried just 582 passengers one day, compared to its usual daily traffic of 100,000.

Source: Cirium

The New Zealand government has approved Qatar Airways for a second daily flight from Auckland to Doha, as part of measures to help repatriate foreign nationals stranded in New Zealand. Earlier, the carrier said on 26 March that it will operate flights to Brisbane for the first time and add seat capacity on routes to Australia and New Zealand. The government is implementing various measures to allow its foreign counterparts to organise repatriation flights, with the first such flight, operated by Air New Zealand, expected to leave on 3 April. Deputy prime minister and foreign minister Winston Peters said in a statement today: "Given that Air New Zealand intends to fly charter flights from New Zealand to Europe for European governments, we will explore the extent to which New Zealanders can return in the planes on the way back." Peters adds that any foreign nationals wishing to travel domestically must have a ticket for a confirmed and scheduled international flight out of New Zealand, while foreign governments wishing to organise repatriation flights must satisfy local health requirements. “We are conscious that returning foreign nationals to their home countries will reduce the potential pressure on health services in New Zealand, and reduce the risk of welfare issues developing for those people who are stranded and unable to afford to be here much longer.” New Zealand’s current Level 4 lockdown means that only those considered essential workers were allowed to travel by air, effectively stranding tourists requiring a domestic flight to get to Auckland International airport. The restrictions have also decimated domestic demand for Air New Zealand, which on 2 April announced a bare minimum domestic schedule after transporting just 163 passengers on 1 April.

Source: Cirium

Middle Eastern carrier Emirates is consolidating freighter operations at Dubai International from 1 April, suspending operations at the city’s Dubai World Central hub. Emirates is reorganising its freight network in response to the disruption from the coronavirus crisis. It says the decision to concentrate on Dubai International, the main passenger airport, will enable it to “streamline” its SkyCargo services given that dedicated cargo flights are being conducted using aircraft from the airline’s Boeing 777-300ER passenger fleet. Emirates operates a fleet of 11 Boeing 777 freighters but its passenger 777s are capable of transporting 40t of payload on their lower decks. These aircraft will be deployed on a revised schedule of all-cargo services, the carrier states. “Schedules and destinations for the dedicated cargo flights on passenger aircraft have been planned keeping in mind optimal interconnectivity with Emirates’ scheduled freighter operations,” it adds. Passenger-freighters are primarily being used on nine routes to India and Pakistan, around 13 in the Gulf and Africa, eight in Europe, and single connections to Korea, Japan and Australia. Full-freighter services are being used to serve some 20 destinations including those in China, the USA and Mexico. Some routes such as Madrid, Frankfurt and Khartoum will have both full-freighter and passenger-freighter links. “We have been able to establish a new network and schedule for our cargo operations within a very short period of time,” says Emirates divisional senior vice-president for cargo Nabil Sultan. SkyCargo has been assisting with specific medical support efforts including transport of coronavirus testing kits from Guangzhou to Sao Paulo, face-masks from Hong Kong to Sydney, and hospital equipment to Milan, and pharmaceuticals to New York. Emirates says the SkyCargo operation will conduct charter and ad hoc flights alongside its new scheduled network, according to demand.

Source: Cirium