Hong Kong's flagship airline Cathay Pacific has asked staff to take three weeks of unpaid leave to help it cope with the impact of the coronavirus. The carrier had already been hit by the effect on passenger demand of several months of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. It has offered a voluntary special leave scheme to all employees from 1 March to 30 June. The airline said that preserving cash was "key to protecting" its business. On Tuesday, Cathay said it intended to cut services by about 30% over the next two months, including a cut of about 90% in flights to mainland China. The airline had already been facing difficulties because of anti-government protests in Hong Kong, an international financial and travel hub and a key part of its business. Analysts said the airline had been likely to offer the unpaid leave scheme to staff because of those issues anyway. The new coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory infection and symptoms usually start with a fever, followed by a dry cough. The number of cases in China has now exceeded 24,300, with 490 deaths reported.