Cathay Pacific shares tumble after airline suspends Hong Kong protester
Shares in Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific have fallen over four per cent after the airline suspended one of its pilots who had been arrested for protesting in Hong Kong.
Read more: Cathay Pacific sacks staff involved in Hong Kong protests
Cathay Pacific said it would bar “overly radical” crew members from working on flights into mainland China.
The move came after Chinese authorities said Cathay Pacific suspend staff who have been involved in the long-running Hong Kong protests.
Shares in Cathay had dropped 4.4 per cent by 7.50am UK time to 9.850 Hong Kong dollars (£1.04). The fall took the shares close to a decade low.
The pilot’s suspension marks the extension of the febrile political atmosphere in the autonomous city into company boardrooms.
Hong Kong has been rocked by over nine weeks of protests. They were triggered by a controversial bill that would have let people face trial in mainland China, but have evolved into an attack on the city’s leadership.
On Friday, the embattled chief executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam said the protests had hit the city’s businesses like a “tsunami”.
She said the protest were exacerbating an economic downturn and were a more serious threat to business than past bouts of economic stress.
Read more: China warns UK against Hong Kong probe
The protests are expected to continue over the coming weeks, continuing the running battles between demonstrators and police which have seen the latter use tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.