Healy, who described the challenges facing the aviation industry as “unprecedented,” said he was cautiously forecasting a recovery in the second half of the year, but added the situation could change quickly.

During the Covid-19 crisis, the Cathay group is carrying 20,000 passengers daily in March, down 81 per cent, and had parked up to 150 planes a day, the airline said.

“Based on the capacity drop, the revenue drop in these few months has actually been more severe,” chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam Siu-por said of the expected loss in earnings.

The emergency savings put into effect include getting 80 per cent of staff to take three weeks of unpaid leave, and sharply cutting flights to match lower demand.

Cathay Pacific ‘seeking new top financial officer’

Lam did not rule out job cuts, saying the “fluid situation” meant it was “too early to say” what could happen.

Cathay's chairman Healy criticised the Hong Kong Airport Authority over its response to the crisis, pressing its bosses to offer more financial help to the beleaguered industry.

“While we welcome the limited relief by the Airport Authority … it is our belief that is not sufficient and does not accurately reflect the challenge the aviation industry is facing,” Healy said.

“We continue our discussions … and we hope they come to the table.”

Cathay said capacity would be reduced by 65 per cent in March and April, more than double the rate in February. That amounts to slashing three-quarters of flights this month and the next.

Based on departures from Hong Kong, there will be 35 instead of 120 daily Cathay Pacific flights, 15 rather than 80 at Asia-focused Cathay Dragon and budget unit HK Express running five flights instead of 34.

Hong Kong authorities pave way for airlines to cut flights this summer

Further substantial reductions in May were also likely, the airline said. There was also the prospect of some cuts in June.

Cathay said up to the end of February, its load factors, which measure how full flights are, had declined by around 50 per cent and year on year, the yield – how much money the airline makes on air tickets – “had also fallen significantly”.

Notably, the airline, which currently operates 236 aircraft, maintained it would invest billions in 70 new aircraft up to 2024 rather than revising its longer-term spending.

The airline was also in talks with Airbus and Boeing to delay the timing of aircraft deliveries, so it could hold on to large sums of cash.

Its financial performance in 2019 beat the expectations of six analysts surveyed by the Post, who estimated a second half loss, but a full year profit last year of HK$1.15 billion on revenue of HK$107.2 billion.

In the second half of 2018, the airline made a profit of HK$2.6 billion.

The airline last made a half year loss – HK$263 million – in the first half of 2018.

Cathay Pacific CEO resigns in midst of Hong Kong protest controversy

Jefferies’ analyst Andrew Lee said the airline’s results were welcome but the management’s downbeat tone was a concern.

He noted the airline’s “more bearish tone, given management expected the first half of 2020 would be significantly down on the same period last year, during the January 2020 traffic update announcement.”

On Cathay’s prospects, Luya You, analyst at Bocom International, said: “Looking at isolated and rather staggered outbreak patterns globally, I would wager that initial hopes of a rapid V-shaped recovery is growing less and less likely.”