Cathay Pacific says it expects to use less than half its usual capacity in year 2021 as the airline industry continue to suffer from the Covid-19 after effects – this, their most optimistic depends upon the arrival of a successful vaccine worldwide. For the remaining part of this year, it expects to run at 10% its normal capacity. September 2020 saw its passenger numbers fall by an incredible 98% compared to year 2019. The first half of 2021 could net them a quarter of their capacity with the second half expected to bring relieve in the form of healthy recovery.
The Covid-19 pandemic has hit the travel industry hard, be it domestic or international. Of that the airline industry, an important component, has been hit hardest with a crash close to 66% below the levels of year 2019. Cathay like Singapore Airlines is especially hard hit given that they hardly have any domestic routes to fall back on. The scale of loss can be gauged by the number of passengers carried. Till September this year it was 47000 compared to a whooping 35 million last year! Freight though has not been affected so steeply with a decrease of 36%.
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