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Virgin Australia drops Hong Kong

written by Staff reporter | February 6, 2020

Australia’s second-largest airline has announced its complete withdrawal from Hong Kong, in what is another blow for the beleaguered Asian hub.

Virgin Australia’s announcement comes amid the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, which has led to a reduction in demand for travel to Hong Kong. The negative impact on the historically thriving city has led global carriers to reduce capacity amid the worsening health crisis; while earlier this week US airlines American and United announced the temporary suspension of flights to Hong Kong.

Coronavirus’ impact on passenger traffic follows months of civil unrest in the city – leading to dampened demand for services transiting Hong Kong International Airport – as international travellers seek alternative hubs for long-haul connections between Europe, Oceania and North America.

Unrest in the city peaked late last year, with civil protestors overcrowding the airport in August, leading to a grounding of flights that caused mass disruption to travellers.

It was expected that a proposed agreement with Virgin Atlantic would see increased traffic on Virgin Australia’s Hong Kong routes. With ACCC approval granted in September 2019, the airlines were given the green light to strengthen cooperation on services that would link the UK and Ireland to Australia via Hong Kong.

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However in November last year, Virgin Australia announced the removal of Melbourne – Hong Kong flights – set to cease on 11 February 2020 – while the worsening viability of Hong Kong flights has now led the airline to withdraw from the city altogether. The final Sydney – Hong Kong service will take place on 2 March.

Of the withdrawal, Virgin Australia’s Chief Commercial Officer, John MacLeod said: “Hong Kong has continued to be a challenging market… While the decision to withdraw from the Hong Kong market has been a difficult one, it demonstrates our strong focus on driving greater financial discipline through our network,”

“Current circumstances demonstrate that Hong Kong is no longer a commercially viable route for Virgin Australia to continue operating, however international tourism remains an important part of our strategy through our other international routes and partner airlines,” MacLeod added.

Virgin Australia is by no means the only airline suffering to sustain flights to cities in the region amid the ongoing Coronavirus crisis.

Last week Qantas announced it would cease all flights to the Chinese cities of Beijing and Shanghai from 9 February. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, KLM and Delta are among a host of other carriers to suspend services to Mainland China.

Hong Kong received a blow on Wednesday when American Airlines and United announced the temporary withdrawal of flights, while local carrier Cathay Pacific is among the hardest hit, reporting significant drops in demand leading it to the airline significantly reducing capacity.

This includes the progressive reduction of around 90% of flights to Mainland China, as well as capacity adjustments across its international airport.

The situation has led the airline to ask its workforce to take three weeks unpaid leave between March and June, however, the company said that its: “current financial position remains strong and will enable it, despite the current difficult trading conditions, to maintain the quality of its products and services,” in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 4 February.

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Comments (6)

  • Phil

    says:

    Really does not surprise me at all. Johannesburg, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and before we know it their new Japan venture will also go down the gurgler! And it’s a shame because I truly love virgins product and service! Their international network has just been all over the shop!

  • Red Cee

    says:

    Wonder what will happen to the plane that flew the Sydney Honk Kong service. Watch for a new route to be announced shortly by Virgin Australia.

  • Mick D

    says:

    Blind freddy could have seen this coming!
    Virgin, with high operating base costs competing with China carriers, yeah, delusional is to soft a word!
    They would be better off to run their 330’s into a market wih a strong stable economy or give them to Tigerair!

  • Craigy

    says:

    I am not surprised by this announcement. From what has been said in the past, I got the impression that load factors were not providing a return to warrant the services. In comparison, Qantas have been using A380 aircraft on the QF127/8 Sydney – Hong Kong route lately.

  • Thomas

    says:

    Sad to see the Sydney to Hongkong route being cut. Virgin should consider keeping the Sydney to Christchurch route going, the low fuel cost should really help here.

  • Scott

    says:

    Qantas just announced route cutbacks from BNE and MEL, no airline is immune, combined with Shanghai pull out and Beijing pause that’s major reductions.
    Qantas cut
    Cathay cut
    Virgin cut, in fact the global airline industry is cutting, this is not a Virgin issue at all.
    Riots and major epidemic well beyond the control of a boutique new carrier.

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