HONG KONG (REUTERS) - Cathay Pacific Airways said on Wednesday (Sept 11) it would cut capacity for the upcoming winter season after reporting an 11.3 per cent fall in passenger numbers in the month of August as anti-government protests in Hong Kong hit demand.

The airline said inbound traffic to Hong Kong in August had fallen by 38 per cent and outbound traffic by 12 per cent compared with the previous year, and it did not anticipate September would be any less difficult.

The Hong Kong airline has become the biggest corporate casualty of anti-government protests after China demanded it suspend staff involved in, or who support, demonstrations that have plunged the former British colony into a political crisis.

Cathay Pacific chairman John Slosar last week announced plans to step down in November, less than three weeks after CEO Rupert Hogg left amid mounting regulatory scrutiny.

"Given the current significant decline in forward bookings for the remainder of the year, we will make some short-term tactical measures such as capacity realignments," Cathay chief customer and commercial officer Ronald Lam said in a statement.

"Specifically, we are reducing our capacity growth such that it will be slightly down year-on-year for the 2019 winter season (from end October 2019 to end March 2020) versus our original growth plan of more than 6 per cent for the period."

Cathay Pacific said demand for premium class travel had fallen more significantly than for leisure travel, with demand from mainland China and North-east Asia severely hit, although Australia and New Zealand were more positive.