[cwoodward]

In a recent wide ranging interview the airlines new CEO Jeonette Meo,a 20 year Cathay veteran revealed that the airlines present route network of 20 (active) destinations is planned to increase by 50% by end 2023 to 30 destinations.
This will be made possible by delivery numbers of its new aircraft in 2023 namely the Airbus A321neo 16 of which are on order with 1 already delivered and 4 more said to be coming prior year end. The present fleet is 27 airbus aircraft.

The new destinations will be interesting as neo is larger carrying over 220 passengers and having a range of 4000n miles as well as burning about 18% less fuel than it predecessor. This means that the aircraft could easily make the distance to Cairns -a tourist route that Cathey flew for many years.

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AndrewinHK

[AndrewinHK]

Maybe Guam could also be a consideration, it was previously served by United, and is a big tourist market particularly from Korea. If you have a jet capable of 4000nm I hope they don’t just focus on Japan/Korea, like you say they could help out CX and restore service to places like Cairns/Male/Colombo.

[cwoodward]

Hong Kong was served until recently by United ex Guam. Certainly 1 or some days 2 United passenger aircraft arrive from Guam all through the pandemic but nothing for the past days and nothing scheduled.
Guam could well be on the HKX list. Cathay is not short of aircraft and Colombo is a Cathay destination and scheduled to return whereas Cathay stopped the Cairns flights in about 2016 after some deal with Qantas as I remember – not much premium traffic to Cairns of course and so good for a LCC.

[cwoodward]

Interesting to see a united flight ex HKG direct to Honolulu this morning B767 passenger aircraft.

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AndrewinHK

[AndrewinHK]

Probably was here for some sort of maintenance. Looking at the aircraft history looks like it came from PVG on July 12th and has been up there since May 20th.

[workandtravel]

Absolutely, Guam could indeed be a promising addition to Cathay Pacific’s expanding route network. With its popularity as a tourist destination, especially among Korean travelers, it aligns well with the airline’s growth strategy.

[Author]

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