Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Friday it was closing its Vancouver cabin crew base, laying off 147 crew members, as part of an ongoing business review.


The job cuts are the first announced by the airline since it cut 40% of its global capacity as a result of lower demand due to the coronavirus and asked all 27,000 of its staff to take three weeks of unpaid leave.

“As part of our ongoing business review, we have made the decision to close down our Vancouver cabin crew base,” Cathay said in a statement. “We are communicating with the union.”