Hong Kong Airlines says market like Singapore-Hong Kong is 'wildly competitive'

Hong Kong Airlines assistant director commercial Michael Burke, speaking at the CAPA Asia Aviation Summit, said (24-Nov-2015) a market such as Singapore-Hong Kong is "wildly competitive" for an airline like Hong Kong Airlines. Mr Burke noted: "80% are Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific, two of the strongest brands and stickiest loyalty programmes and strong cargo revenues… That's really bloody difficult to compete against." Mr Burke said: "How can you logically propose that when its clear the route was gonna be loss making from the get go. There's only so much strategic intent you can put in that before you run out of cash." Mr Burke noted this rationale would change if the carrier expanded into transpacific: "The art is then how are you relevant enough to things like corporate travel programmes to sell your network when you don't have a vital route like Singapore-Hong Kong… So that's where partnerships come in."