SYDNEY – Several Asian airlines have cut flights to Hong Kong over the coming weeks, an industry scheduling publication showed, as anti-government protests in the city grow increasingly violent and disrupt daily life.
Routes Online said the latest schedules showed cancellations from PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, India’s SpiceJet Ltd., Malaysia’s AirAsia Group Bhd., South Korea’s JejuAir Co. Ltd. and Jin Air Co. Ltd., and the Philippines’ PAL Holdings Inc. and Cebu Air Inc.
The cuts come as Hong Kong police on Monday fired tear gas at protesters trying to escape a besieged university, while others armed with petrol bombs awaited an expected operation to oust them.
The unrest, raging for almost six months, and an escalating trade war between the United States and China has pushed the Asian financial hub into recession for the first time in a decade.
On Sunday, Airport Authority Hong Kong reported an October decline of 13 percent in passengers and 6.1 percent in the number of inbound and outbound flights – the steepest falls since the unrest began. It said a growing proportion of travelers were using Hong Kong as a transit point rather than a destination. (Reuters)
