Cathay joins fare waiver bandwagon with unlimited offer

Hard hit Hong Kong airlines Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon have joined the surge of airlines offering coronavirus waivers with a generous offer aimed at filling seats. The waiver applies to tickets booked between March 9 and April 20 and allows passengers to make unlimited rebooking and rerouting changes on any trip completed before February 28, 2021. Lile most of the coronavirus waivers, a fare difference may apply. READ: Qantas seeks Sunrise order delay from Airbus Cathay is also refunding tickets where unduly prohibitive travel restrictions provided they were issued before the curbs were announced. Destinations eligible for the refunds include Wuhan (on tickets issued on or before January 21), mainland China (February 3), the Philippines (February 4), Israel (February 19), South Korea (February 24), Thailand (March 6) and Japan (March 6). Cathay is one of the airlines had hard by the virus and the group has reduced its capacity over the next two months by about 40 percent. It has reduced its mainland China flights by 90 percent and suspended services to the epicenter of the diseases, Wuhan, until the end of the month. Other suspensions include flights to Japan, South Korea, the Philippines as well as New York (Newark), Washington D.C., Adelaide, Rome, Milan, Tel Aviv and London Gatwick. Initiatives adopted to safeguard passengers include  “deep cleaning” aircraft with disinfectants recommended by the International Air transport Association and the World Health Organization. There are also inflight health updates, health declarations on flights to mainland China and modified catering on its flights and in its lounges. Arriving and departing passengers at Hong Kong International Airport face temperature checks and hand sanitizer has been placed at multiple areas around the airport and in lounges. Airlines around the world have introduced fare waivers in an attempt to give nervous passengers some comfort in booking tickets without protection against the virus from travel insurance. Airlines are offering slightly differing conditions but those to have announced a waiver policy — launched initially by JetBlue — include British Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, American Airlines, United Airlines, Lufthansa, Alaska Airlines, Emirates and LATAM.