Oasis Hong Kong airline shutting down; Cathay Pacific to help stranded Vancouver passengers

Joanne Lee-Young
Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's flagship carrier, is stepping in to help Vancouver passengers stranded by the abrupt shutdown of upstart Oasis Hong Kong, which last night announced that all flights have been cancelled.

Cathay is offering a special one-way Economy Class fare of CA$320, plus applicable taxes and surcharges, for passengers who are booked and ticketed for travel to Hong Kong from today until April 23, inclusive.

"Cathay Pacific is offering a way for these passengers to complete their journey and return home," says Philippe Lacamp, Cathay Pacific, Vice President Canada. "As a Hong Kong based airline serving Vancouver for nearly 25 years, we felt it important to lend a hand during this difficult time."

The last Oasis flight from Vancouver flew out at 6 pm on Tuesday evening.

Passengers on that flight who hold return tickets back to Vancouver have also been given a Oasis hotline number in Hong Kong for assistance. That number is 852-3628-0628.

In Vancouver, passengers booked to fly out on tomorrow's 6 p.m. flight can call Oasis at 1-888-983-0808.

The Hong Kong government has sent two immigration officers specifically to help with any issues that may arise with the demise of Oasis.

In Hong Kong, rumours had been circulating in the freewheeling Chinese-language press.

Oasis executives informed the Hong Kong government on Saturday that the airline would shut down, but until the last night's official press conference in Hong Kong, consumers could still buy tickets online.

The arrival of Oasis to Vancouver last year significantly increased air travel between Vancouver and Hong Kong, by as much as 50 per cent, according to airports in both cities.

Cheap one-way airfares as low as $200 ignited a new set of travelers and more repeat trip-takers, who were going as many as two or three times in as many months.

Retailers and restaurants in the city catering to Chinese clientele actually attributed a slump in their sales to the Oasis phenomenon.

Silkway Travel, a Vancouver-based travel agency with Hong Kong roots, will be one of the hardest hit, said president Paulus Ng, "just by the sheer fact that we have the most branches and serve the most people in this market."

From the start, Ng had some concerns about the very low Oasis fares. "We actually had a dedicated person in our accounting department who only handled Oasis payments because we had to push to keep the accounts updated. If they owed us, we had to chase them. Our last check was two weeks ago and covered (commissions made on tickets sold) to mid-February."

"So, (Oasis) owes us a significant amount," said Ng, declining to be more specific, except to say "that because we were very cautious, our loss is significant, but not important to our cash flow situation."

At XO Tours, which also specializes in travel to Greater China and has five offices across Metro Vancouver, CEO Ronnie Chen said that "we never set out to focus on selling Oasis tickets, but they were just so cheap that we had to sell them in order to serve customers. I always thought that they were going to sell cheap tickets for the first one or two months, but when they kept selling them at such a low price, I didn't know how it was going to last."