Cathay Pacific offers staff unpaid leave in Hong Kong

Unpaid Leave in Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific asked staff to take three weeks off without pay to help them cope with the impact of the coronavirus.

The Hong Kong standard bearer has offered a voluntary special leave scheme to all employees.

It will run from March 1 to the end of June.

All employees will have the option of taking three weeks of leave without pay during this period.

The airline said the move would preserve liquidity and was "essential to protect" its business.

Earlier this week, Cathay announced plans to cut services to mainland China.

The carrier had already been affected by the effect on passenger demand of several months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong.

In a statement, the airline said, "In light of the new coronavirus epidemic and the significant drop in market demand, we have just announced massive capacity reductions.

“Keeping money is the key to protecting our business."

"We have already taken several steps to achieve this."