Tail fins of Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd aircraft are seen at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, March 5, 2019. (PAUL YEUNG / BLOOMBERG)

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said advance bookings show a “significant shortfall” in travel demand later this month as protests  stemming from the extradition bill incident have discouraged people from travelling to Hong Kong.

Inbound traffic plunged 46% last month, the same as November, Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement

The airline and its unit Cathay Dragon carried 2.99 million passengers in December, a drop of 3.6% from a year earlier.

The decline in November was more severe at 9%. Inbound traffic plunged 46% last month, the same as November, Cathay’s Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Ronald Lam said in a statement.

READ MORE: Cathay to cut seat capacity as HK unrest weighs on demand

“The sentiment for travel into Hong Kong was particularly weak on our regional routes such as Chinese mainland, Taiwan and Japan,” Lam said. Outbound demand fell 4% on-year.

“2020 will continue to present us with a highly challenging operating environment,” Lam said.

“Advance bookings for Chinese New Year appear promising with the boost in transit passengers; however, we continue to see a significant shortfall for the period after Chinese New Year, especially from inbound traffic.”

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The Chinese New Year is later this month.

Cathay had warned that its second-half profit would be “significantly” lower than the first as it was badly hit by months of protests.

Cathay in November said it would cut this year’s capacity by 1.4%.