The
flagship Hong Kong airline has taken a financial battering from
a fall in demand due to months of sometimes violent
pro-democracy protests in the Asian financial capital, and last
month lowered its full-year profit guidance.
Cathay plans to maintain its A321neo delivery schedule, with the
first of the planes being delivered next year.
Regional arm Cathay Dragon, which had initially been poised to
receive all 32 A321neos, will get 16 between 2020 and 2022,
Cathay said in a statement, adding the following 16 will go to
HK Express from 2022 onward.
Cathay in July completed the purchase of HK Express from
cash-strapped Chinese conglomerate HNA Group <HNAIRC.UL>, giving
the premium carrier its first foothold in a rapidly growing
budget travel market in Asia.
Rivals Singapore Airlines Ltd <SIAL.SI> and Australia's Qantas
Airways Ltd <QAN.AX> have long had budget arms to help defend
market share against low-cost carriers like AirAsia Group Bhd <AIRA.KL>.
Cathay is also continuing to take new widebody planes at its
parent airline, despite the current drop in passenger demand
from protests. It reaffirmed it would receive 12 A350s and 21
777-9s by 2024.
"We will continue to invest in each of our airlines, their
products and services," Cathay Chief Executive Augustus Tang
said in the statement on Friday.
(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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