Lots of blustery talk from Mr. Yau,
“Investing in an airline is a very costly exercise,” said Yau. “Our investor Mr Wong is a land developer in Shenzhen, so he has very strong financial support to this airline.”
Land development in China is not a pump and dump scheme founded on a mountain of debt. So the strong financials may not be all they seem.
“Another factor going in Wong’s favour is his ties to the mainland. The businessman is a member of China’s key political advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. Yau has noted that Hong Kong-Beijing would be a fitting first route.”
Political ties are all well and good until you lose favour or a different faction gains prominence.
“Greater Bay Airlines is also unable to generate any cash at present because it can’t sell tickets.Wong said over a year ago that he expected to spend around HK$2 billion (USD$257 million) before obtaining regulatory approvals. Other details surrounding the airline’s financing are scant and Yau didn’t elaborate.”
Nothing possibly sketchy here then.
“Most pilots and cabin crew are Hong Kong citizens who used to work for Cathay, Dragon or Hong Kong Airlines, Yau said. “We’re quite aggressive with our plan.”
And those pilots are aggressively applying for a job with Cathay.
“Good timing, or bad?”
Bad, really, really bad.
The fight for survival initially will be between HKA and GBA but I guess you can’t talk bad about another well connected tycoon’s airline.
Last edited by From a distance; 1st Mar 2022 at 23:51.