Airline startup Greater Bay's launch slowed by COVID situation in Hong Kong - CEO

Greater Bay Area Dynamic Growth Holding

18/03/2022 06:56

* Has not set launch date or destination yet
    * Expects 3 planes flying by end-2022, down from 7 earlier
    * Looking at 30 A321neos or 737 MAX jets for longer-term
fleet

    By Jamie Freed
    March 18 (Reuters) - Hong Kong startup Greater Bay Airlines
has scaled back its initial growth ambitions due to tight
pandemic-related quarantine restrictions and has yet to set a
date for its first commercial flights, its chief executive said
on Friday.
    The carrier, which intends to compete against the financial
centre's dominant airline, Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd  0293.HK ,
was granted a licence last month to operate regular flights. 
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2UW0FY
    The second of three Boeing Co  BA.N  737-800s leased from
China's ICBC Leasing arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
    However, Chief Executive Algernon Yau said requirements for
two weeks of hotel quarantine on arrival to the city would need
to relax before Greater Bay would commit to a launch date and
its first routes.
    "I think we would need around three months in advance," he
said in a phone interview of the notice needed to gain traffic
rights and airport slots. 
    The airline said in October it hoped to have seven jets in
operation by the end of 2022, but Yau said growth plans had been
scaled back due to setbacks in border openings as COVID-19 cases
rose in its home city.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2R504B
    "I think we will operate three aircraft this year," he said.
"And maybe we will reach the level in the second half of 2023
where we are adding two more aircraft."
    The carrier is developing a longer-term growth plan that
could involve a fleet of up to 30 Boeing 737 MAX 10 or Airbus SE
 AIR.PA  A321neo planes flying to destinations in mainland China
and around Asia over the next five years, Yau said. 
    Greater Bay has not yet decided if it will source the planes
directly from manufacturers or from lessors or a mix of the two,
he added.
    The airline will have all economy class seats and a
mid-market model similar to Virgin Australia and JetBlue, Yau
said, positioning it between full-service Cathay Pacific and
that airline's budget offshoot Hong Kong Express.

 (Reporting by Jamie Freed in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)
 ((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com;))