iscover
Cathay Pacific views Australia as a crucial market, the Hong Kong-based airline has said as it looks to grow its local operations.
Speaking to Australian Aviation at a media event in Sydney, Tom Kennedy, Cathay’s regional head of customer travel and lifestyle, Southwest Pacific, said Australia is “really important” for the carrier, which has recently launched its new 777-300ER Aria Suite business class into Sydney and Melbourne.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
A monthly membership is only $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
- Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content
- Access to the Australian Aviation app
- Australian Aviation quarterly print & digital magazines
- Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
- Access to our Behind the Lens photo galleries and other exclusive content
- Daily news updates via our email bulletin
“We’ve been operating flights here to Australia for 55 years. Perth, in fact, was our very first port that we commenced flights to,” he said.
“Australia is a long-standing, mature market for Cathay, and we fly to all the major cities, with Adelaide just coming online later this later this year, in November.
“All of our flights connect up to Hong Kong and then to 100 destinations beyond Hong Kong, and Australia is right up there in terms of a key source market for Cathay, being a network carrier.”
Cathay is set to bring back a seasonal service between Hong Kong and Adelaide starting 11 November, flying three times per week on its 280-seat A350-900 fleet until 27 March next year. The carrier is also moving to double daily Brisbane and Perth services starting in October.
“We have a seat capacity, at our peak, of around 25,000 seats coming into the market, which is a substantial amount. That puts Cathay at about the sixth largest international airline flying into Australia,” Kennedy said.
“As we increase capacity, what’s great to see is that the Australian market is responding to that capacity, and we’re seeing strong loads of Australians flying out on Cathay.
“We surpassed our pre-COVID capacity at the start of this year. So, in January, we ticked over our pre-COVID capacity, and a lot of the efforts going into the airline since then have been about reinvesting back into the product and reinvesting back in for the customer experience.”
Cathay in June also announced it would bring back its seasonal route to Cairns for another year, with three A330 flights per week.
“This is the second time we’ve operated into Cairns as a seasonal service, and Cairns is a destination for our inbound visitors coming to explore Australia,” Kennedy said.
“I think Cairns showcases the hospitality of Northern Queensland really well, with the reef and the rainforest, as an alternative gateway into Australia.”
The Commonwealth government last year authorised increasing passenger capacity for Hong Kong to 84 flights per week, up from 70, and with no limits on cargo services.
