Passengers on a near-empty Cathay Dragon flight from Beijing to Hong Kong on September 16 Photo: Zhao Juecheng/GT

An airline body that represents more than 70 carriers with operations in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) has formally asked the city's government to waive certain fees and provide short-term relief to help its members, whose business has been hit hard by months of political unrest.

The move by the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR) of Hong Kong to ask the HKSAR government to compensate carriers for their losses is "illogical" and the airlines should instead help bring the violence and chaos to an end, an analyst said on Wednesday. 

In a letter to the HKSAR Transport and Housing Bureau, BAR Chairman Ronald Lam Siu-por urged the government to suspend landing and parking fees as well as other operating costs and "consider issuing short-term relief measures that can help airlines survive this extremely difficult time," according to media reports.

Airlines have experienced serious drops in passengers in and out of Hong Kong due to the violent protests. 

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) handled 6 million passengers in August, down 12.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released by Airport Authority Hong Kong on September 15. The figure is said to be the largest monthly slump in 10 years.

Persistent violence and chaos over the summer turned tourists away during what is supposed to be a peak season for the city, especially after a series of protests inside the airport that paralyzed one of the busiest hubs in Asia and caused delays and canceled flights. Radical protesters even harassed and attacked travelers at the airport. 

However, there is no reason for the HKSAR government to foot the bill for the losses of air carriers, said Guo Ning, a Guangzhou-based veteran airline expert, calling the BAR's demand "gangster logic."

"Instead, the BAR should, on behalf of its members, demand that radical protesters who have paralyzed the airport and affected Hong Kong's tourism sector stop their violence and help maintain peace and order in Hong Kong," Guo told the Global Times on Wednesday, noting that some airlines have played a major role in protests in the city.

Some airlines, including Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines, have been criticized for showing sympathy toward radical protesters. 

In early August, two airport employees of Cathay Pacific leaked information about the travel arrangements for a Hong Kong police soccer team bound for Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province. A pilot of the airline also allegedly rioted during a demonstration in the Sheung Wan area of Hong Kong on July 28.

In mid-September, passengers aboard Hong Kong Airlines, which is also a member of the BAR, found several leaflets in in-flight magazines that beautified the anti-government protests and demonized the Hong Kong police. When reached by the Global Times, the airline said that there was no proof that its employees had placed the leaflets inside the publications.

Yiu Si-wing, a Hong Kong legislator and chairman of China Travel Service (HK) Ltd, told the Global Times on Wednesday that employees' political demands should not jeopardize companies' reputations and operational safety.

In a statement, the Cathay Pacific Group airlines, said that they supported the BAR's action. "We would definitely welcome the government temporarily waiving these operating expenses so that airlines operating in Hong Kong - including ours - can maintain commercial viability and HKIA can retain its leading position as a global aviation hub," it said.

Hong Kong Airlines said that it has taken measures to deal with losses arising from the decline in passengers. The airline told the Global Times on Wednesday that managerial salaries will be cut 20 percent from September to December. It has also called for local employees and those in the Chinese mainland to support an unpaid leave program that will run from October to December. 


Newspaper headline: Airlines ask HKSAR govt for fee cuts, relief