Cathay Passenger Capacity Change from mid-May to end-June

The ongoing volatile situation in the Middle East continues to negatively impact the price of jet fuel, which has increased significantly since the beginning of March and remains at highly elevated levels. This is placing huge cost pressure on airlines around the world.

Jet fuel consists of crude oil and refinery cost, both of which are seeing sharp increases. According to the latest price data published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global average jet fuel price increased to US$209 per barrel for the week ending 3 April 2026, increasing from US$99.40 per barrel for the week ending 27 February 2026.

In the past month, we have pursued every suitable means to keep our flights operating as normal. This includes adjusting the fuel surcharges in an attempt to mitigate the surge in jet fuel prices. Despite our best efforts, the measures we have taken to mitigate the heightened fuel costs have not been enough.

Cutting back on capacity has always been our last resort. Regrettably, we have to consolidate a small number of Cathay Pacific passenger flights from 16 May 2026 to 30 June 2026, as well as a small number of HK Express passenger flights from 11 May 2026 to 30 June 2026, to mitigate part of the increased costs.

For Cathay Pacific, around 2% of total frequencies during the period will be cancelled, involving mostly regional flights and a small number of Australia, South Asia and South Africa flights. All affected customers will be offered protection onto flights departing within 24 hours of their originally scheduled flights. For HK Express, about 6% of total frequencies during the period will be cancelled, with nearly all affected customers offered protection onto flights departing within 24 hours of their originally scheduled flights. All affected customers will be notified of their updated flight details by Monday, 13 April 2026.

A decision has also been made to continue suspending Cathay Pacific’s Dubai and Riyadh passenger flights until 30 June 2026 in view of the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

We have endeavoured to minimise the impact to our customers as much as possible. These consolidation decisions are not taken lightly and we apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused.

Beyond June, Cathay Pacific and HK Express plan to operate all our scheduled passenger flights, subject to developments of the Middle East situation and jet fuel price in the coming months. During these unprecedented times, we shall remain agile in our response while striving to maintain our network and frequencies as much as possible for our customers, business partners and the Hong Kong international aviation hub.