A union representing Cathay Pacific cabin crew said on Tuesday that it will implement a work-to-rule protest from Thursday despite the airline's insistence that it had addressed concerns about rosters.

The Cathay Pacific Airways Flight Attendants Union said last month that it was considering a protest to seek better roster arrangements, better welfare and longer layovers for its members. It's told members to stick strictly to company policies, rules and standards, and not to work on rest days.

It said the airline had not responded to its demands and that management rejected a request for a meeting on Tuesday.

However, Cathay said it has been communicating directly with cabin crew and had implemented changes to its rosters from this month in response to their concerns.

The airline told passengers that services will continue as scheduled.

Separately, the airline announced that it's cancelling some flights between the SAR and Japan in the first half of February.

The announcement came after Hong Kong Express cancelled some flights, citing restrictions imposed by the Japanese authorities.

The Japanese authorities earlier scrapped rules under which flights from Hong Kong could only go to four designated airports. However, it's maintained a cap on the overall number of flights from the SAR.

Cathay said some flights between Hong Kong and Japan from February 3 to 16 may be cancelled.

"We have started rebooking all affected customers onto other flights available... There is no need for customers to contact us via our Customer Care hotlines," it said in social media posts.