Global Courant 2023-05-18 09:56:00
HONG KONG – Hundreds of thousands of people queued online for flights to Hong Kong given away by Cathay Pacific Airways on its North American website, with 4,445 tickets from the US and Canada on offer.
Wait times on the airline’s websites in the US and Canada exceeded an hour on Thursday morning Hong Kong time as customers rushed to pick up free return tickets to Hong Kong, offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
By mid-morning, the offer was over.
“Due to popular demand, we have already reached our ticket limit in the United States and Canada,” said Cathay. “This exclusive ticket offer is now closed.”
The promotion is part of Hong Kong’s plan to lure tourists back after essentially cutting itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic, as arrivals fell and the economy plunged into recession.
The Asian financial center lifted the last of its virus restrictions, including wearing a mask, in early March.
“Tourism inbound and domestic demand will remain the main drivers of economic growth this year,” the Hong Kong government said in early May.
Cathay, Hong Kong’s main airline, is giving away a total of 500,000 tickets to customers around the world.
The promotion started in March, with 17,400 allocated tickets for Thailand, 12,500 for Singapore and 20,400 for the Philippines, before expanding to other places.
Winners still have to pay taxes and fees, so a round-trip economy class flight from Los Angeles to Hong Kong would cost them about $350, according to Cathay’s website.
Cathay was operating at just 2 percent of normal capacity during the pandemic as travel to Hong Kong dried up, leaving it with record losses.
Demand is finally picking up again – passenger numbers reached 1.38 million in April, up more than 3,200 percent from the same month last year.
Still, the airline lags behind regional rival Singapore Airlines, which posted the biggest profit in its 76-year history this week.
Cathay is rebuilding its network in North America and plans to offer three weekly flights to Chicago from October, bringing the total number of destinations in the region to seven. BLOOMBERG
