30th January 2023 – (Hong Kong) Cathay Pacific Airways announced today that it can only operate 72 flights to Japan per week, which is 12 to 13 flights less than the original plan. The affected flights involved 98 flights between Hong Kong and Japan from 3rd February to 2nd March this year. The reason for the cancellation in flights was that the Japanese authorities continued to restrict airlines from operating flights from Hong Kong to Japan. Cathay Pacific expressed its deepest apologies to the passengers affected by the flight cancellation, and will arrange for passengers who were originally scheduled to travel between Hong Kong and Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka to take other flights.
Customers traveling between Nagoya and Hong Kong will instead take the Osaka flights. In addition, flights to and from Sapporo will operate as scheduled. Cathay Pacific has started rebooking other flights for all affected customers. Affected passengers will also receive an email with new flight details, and can also access the information in the ‘Manage Booking’ service.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong Express (HK Express) also announced that it will cancel a total of 60 flights to and from Japan (including return flights departing from Japan) from 17th February to 2nd March. Affected passengers who booked flights directly through HK Express will be notified in the next few days and will be provided with relevant arrangements.