Interesting additional detail contained in today's Standard newspaper. My bolding.
Hong Kong Express Airways has been banned from increasing destinations, putting on additional flights, or acquiring new aircraft for the time being, the Civil Aviation Department said yesterday.
The department said it had accepted the airline's report regarding the cancellation of multiple flights during Golden Week.
The airline has been granted another five-year operating license.
The report said the cancellations stemmed from the successive resignations of HK Express' safety and emergency and procedure trainers within a short period, while newly recruited trainers had yet to secure the necessary approvals from the authority.
"HK Express' report demonstrated that, after filling the vacancies and increasing the number of safety and emergency procedure trainers, as well as carrying out a leadership reshuffle, HK Express has regained its ability to provide steady flight services," a CAD spokesman said.
The report revealed "the poor internal management and corporate governance, a lack of effective internal communications, under-estimation of the impact of the incident, and insufficient sensitivity to public concern."
The CAD said HK Express had to start "pooling resources together to optimize its internal management and corporate governance" in order to avoid a recurrence of similar incidents.
HK Express will only be allowed to operate new destinations and increase flights when the department is satisfied with the implementation of various rectification measures effectively, the spokesman said.
During Golden Week, the budget airline canceled 18 flights between Hong Kong and three cities in Japan and South Korea.
There was an extended period of holidays during the National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival, with 2,000 passengers affected.
HK Express has promised to strengthen internal governance.