Hong Kong Airlines’ London route to go on sale in December

Hong Kong Airlines will start selling tickets for its flagship, all-business class daily route between London and Hong Kong in December, with flights launching in March next year. As reported by Business Traveller (see online news July 20, 2011) the route will be served by specially configured A330-200 aircraft fitted with two different types of business class products, with 34 full-flat Club Premier seats and 82 cradle style Club Classic seats. Each cabin will have its own bar and both classes will be able to take advantage of 110v in seat power supply, on board connectivity provided by OnAir and a Thales In Flight Entertainment (IFE) system providing Audio Visual on Demand (AVOD) entertainment. The flight will launch as a daily service being served by three A330s. UK general manager Gerard Clarke told Business Traveller that an announcement is imminent as to which London airport the service will operate out of. Exact timings will depend on which aiport is eventually chosen but it will preferably be a night flight on both legs, according to Clarke. This allows for what he sees as easy connections into mainland China when arriving in Hong Kong mid-afternoon. Hong Kong Airlines has a regional network linking to primary and secondary Chinese cities as well as key destinations such as Bangkok, Tokyo, Hanoi and Singapore. These timings would also allow for a full business day when arriving in the morning back in London. Clarke went on to say: “The core business market as we’ve planned for this route is our focus to begin with, not only because of the product on London to Hong Kong, but also the strong network we have into a region of the world [China] that clearly that segment wants to visit on a regular basis.” He also reported that initial response from large TMCs has been positive. For more information, and to see a seat plan of the aircraft, visit Hong Kong Airlines’ micro site at hongkongairlines.com/club. Report by Scott Carey