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Cathay adds fifth daily Heathrow service

Published: 06/02/2013 - Filed under: News »

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Cathay Pacific is to add a fifth daily Heathrow-Hong Kong service from June 27.

The new frequency will be operated by the carrier’s four-class B777-300ER aircraft, fitted with Cathay’s new premium economy seat (for a Tried and Tested review of the premium economy product on this route click here).

Cathay says that the new seat “continues to grow in popularity on the London route”, adding that the new frequency will add around 1,000 premium economy seats per month to the route in both directions.

The carrier’s summer schedule on the route (including the extra frequency from June 27) is as follows:

Fellow Oneworld member BA also serves the Heathrow-Hong Kong route, as does Virgin Atlantic and Star Alliance carrier Air New Zealand, although the last of these is due to drop its flights from March 4 (see online news November 5, 2012).

It seems that it is this decision, along with the creation of a "strategic alliance" between Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific, which has enabled today's announcement. Cathay Pacific provided Business Traveller with a comment as follows:

"In response to customer demand for additional daily flights between London and Hong Kong and beyond, we have wanted to increase our Heathrow services for some time, but slots are difficult to come by. We were recently able to secure a pair of slots as they were no longer required by another airline. 

For more information visit cathaypacific.com.

Report by Mark Caswell

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COMMENTS » 

BA744fan - 06/02/2013 12:15

Good move by Cathay Pacific. Arrival into HKG coincides with evening departures to Australia & New Zealand. Should prove popular now Qantas have pulled the plug on the Kangaroo route through Singapore.

ScottWilson - 06/02/2013 14:29

Quite, the Heathrow arrival and departure times are not that far out of alignment with the ones Air NZ is surrendering on the route. However, as it is daily and a larger aircraft, it is a definite increase in capacity overall.

It is odd that while Air NZ and Cathay Pacific now have a strategic alliance between HKG and AKL, and HKG and several Asian destinations, that it doesn't apply to LHR-HKG (which could happily feed NZ and CX at HKG onto AKL)

AnthonyDunn - 06/02/2013 14:54

I would have thought that there would have been commercial logic in upping BA's offering but, instead, I have to ask whatever happened to the third daily BA service LHR/HKG/LHR that was supposed to be three or four times a week when QF cancelled their services via HKG? It seems BA is content to let CX clean up the additional traffic generated by QF and NZ withdrawal from the route.

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