HK Express Temporarily Suspends All Flight Operations from 23 March to 30 April 2020
Hong Kong, 20 Mar, 2020
HK Express announces that it will suspend all flight operations on a short-term basis starting from 23 March until 30 April 2020 inclusive, in light of the significant drop in travel demand as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and growing travel restrictions imposed by Hong Kong SAR Government as well as various governments across Asia. The airline is looking into resuming flight operations on 1 May 2020 and closely monitoring the development of the situation. Ticket sales remain available for May 2020 and beyond.
As of today, HK Express has already cancelled about 2,000 flight sectors, covering 23 out of our 25 routes across Asia.
Customers whose travel plans have been affected by the suspension of all flight operations will have the option of changing their travel date, travel route or receive a full refund. Additional information for affected passengers is available on HK Express’ official website (https://www.hkexpress.com/en-hk/your-trips/important-travel-notice/).
In light of the upcoming temporary suspension of flight operations, HK Express is bringing forward leave plans for crew by reallocating leave originally assigned in the second half of the year to the period between April and June 2020. This is being done so as to reserve manpower for when demand returns.
HK Express has already taken a number of measures to help it preserve cash, including cost containment, recruitment suspension, supplier management and the implementation of the Special No Pay Leave Scheme to mitigate the financial impact of the situation on the company.
HK Express CEO Mandy Ng said: “This is a decision we have not taken lightly. Unfortunately, it is now essential in order to ensure we see ourselves through this extremely difficult period. Given all the challenges we have been facing, preserving our cash position is key to make sure we stay together as team.”
The airline remains committed to offering quality low-fare services as Hong Kong’s only homegrown low-cost carrier, connecting customers to exciting destinations across Asia. The carrier will continue to take delivery of new aircraft over the next four years.
“We would like to thank our customers who continue to support us throughout this period,” said Mandy. “I am especially grateful for our team’s selfless contributions to HK Express, with more than 96 percent of us participating in the Special No Pay Leave Scheme. I have no doubt that we will pull through this together, emerging stronger and better.”