The Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong (TIC) said yesterday (Oct. 11) that Hong Kong Express will no longer receive tour group passengers from the fourth quarter onwards, but it is not yet known how it will arrange for the subsequent quarters.
A spokesperson for HK Express said that as the only local low-cost carrier, it would review its business needs from time to time and adjust its sales strategy according to different types of customers, adding that it currently maintains different forms of business partnerships with major travel agencies.
Yuen Chun-ning, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of WWPKG Holdings Company Limited, said that as Hong Kong Express operates a number of exclusive routes, such as routes to Japan's Kagoshima, Shikoku and Takamatsu, the relevant tour groups can only change their flights or even cancel their itineraries. Although Da Nang, Vietnam and Chiang Mai, Thailand are also served by another airline, people may not be able to secure flights temporarily, and it is expected that about 100 tour members will be affected.
Yuen also noted that when HK Express resumed flights to Japan last year, it described the travel agency as "the best partner", but he did not expect that there would be such a change one year later. He queried that HK Express could have chosen to increase its fares if it was only interested in profit.
He also said that the airfares offered by HK Express to the travel agents were even higher than the prices on the Internet, so he did not understand why HK Express had made the relevant decision, "I am puzzled by all the changes that have been made."
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