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BA and Cathay agree to Australian codeshare

Published: 26/02/2013 - Filed under: News »

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Oneworld partners British Airways and Cathay Pacific have entered into a codeshare agreement for flights to Australia, starting March 31.

British Airways customers travelling to Australia will now be able to connect via Hong Kong to flights operated by Cathay Pacific and bearing BA flight numbers. British Airways currently flies twice daily to Hong Kong, and onward codeshare flights will serve Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Brisbane and Cairns.

These flights will operate in addition to British Airways’ daily direct flights from London Heathrow to Sydney via Singapore.

Cathay customers travelling via Hong Kong will also be able to benefit from arriving at Heathrow Terminal 5 and connecting on to BA’s European network on a single itinerary with through-checked bags.

Tickets for the codeshare flights went on sale yesterday (February 25).

This deal comes following the recent break-up of the long-standing Joint Services Agreement (JSA) between BA and Qantas. The Australian carrier is now due to align services with middle-eastern carrier Emirates, also on March 31 (see online news January 24).

For more information visit britishairways.com.

Report by Scott Carey

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• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Oneworld

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COMMENTS » 

MReedGB - 26/02/2013 22:41

..finally a sensible decision on BA's side...CX via HKG is a great choice as a gateway to Australia and to Europe...BA should consider itself as the winner on this isssue and not the loser against Qantas... I would prefer to transit in HKG rather than in DXB...Kudos BA..this is the right decision !

Ian_from_HKG - 27/02/2013 03:50

Yes, it's a good move, but it does make you wonder why bother with BA for the LHR-HKG leg? Why not stick with CX, which has a much better hard product? Granted this may not work so well if you are connecting on BA through T5 since you then have to switch to T3 (although I did the same in reverse last week, and it wasnt particularly strenuous), but then again if you are coming in from a European city that Cathay already serves (Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam or Rome) you can even skip the UK leg!

Ian504504 - 28/02/2013 14:01

Currently sitting in Cathay lounge in HKG transiting to Milan on CX233. We used to fly Qantas from Sydney via Asia then LHR ( T3 to T5) then on to Milan but since Cathay has new seats!!! - this is much better option SYD-HKG-MXP- 1 x stop only.

The T3 to T5 transfer at LHR can be one of lifes most frustrating events when it goes wrong - when the line up to T5 is so long the buses aren't allowed to unload you so you sit there for 15 minutes just to get into the terminal. Then you can have up to an hour to get to your gate. rather sit in the new Cathay Lounge and read Business traveller

SangFung - 28/02/2013 15:55

I am from HK so any stopover in my fav city is good business for the HK economy. Yes, one can choose CX on the LHR - HKG sector, but the T5 BA lounge is worth every cent/minute!!! Well done. I agree with MReedGB - I would hate to sit for hours in DXB with the most overcrowded spaces in the world! And, who wants to be up and about between 12 midnight and 4am??? Insane flight times.

Ian_from_HKG - 01/03/2013 02:00

What on earth is new about being able to connect through T5 "on to BA’s European network on a single itinerary with through-checked bags" - as they are oneworld partners, you can do that now anyway!

SangFung - as for the superiority of the T5 lounge as a reason not to choose CX on the London leg. Well, personally I value the comfort on a 13-hour flight more than the comfort in the lounge for an hour or two, but in any case you can use the BA lounge in T3 which is very similar to the one in T5 - without the views and high ceilings, but with far less crowding!

Shamsh1 - 01/03/2013 21:34

If you really need to get to places in Australia except SYD, MEL, ADL, PER, you have to use Qantas anyway. So why detour to HKG instead of SIN? I dont see any advantage in a codeshare agreement between BA and CX. They are in Oneworld anyway, so what's the big deal?

oldchinahand - 09/03/2013 07:23

Not so Shamsh1

CX fly from HKG also to CNS, BNE and in the case of SYD, MEL, BNE and PER much more often than does Qantas

The crippled kangaroo is not really in the game these days!

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