Carrier will operate three daily flights to Sydney as tourism booms down south
Cathay Pacific Airways will substantially expand services to Australia for the winter schedule as it moves to strengthen its presence in one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations for Hong Kong and mainland travellers.
From October 31, Cathay will fly to Sydney three times daily and increase services to Brisbane and Auckland, New Zealand, in a bid to become the leading carrier in the sector and cash in on demand for holidays in the southern hemisphere's summer season.
'A third daily flight to Sydney will put us firmly in the lead,' chief operating officer Philip Chen Nan-lok said. 'We will be offering more than 17,000 seats to Australia and New Zealand every week and 900,000 seats a year.'
The carrier also plans to increase its weekly services to Manila by two to 37, and flights to Surabaya, Indonesia, will be increased to four from three times a week. In December, Cathay will add two flights to Dubai, bringing its weekly allocation to 13.
'It makes sense that they would boost frequencies to Australia for its summer holiday season,' one analyst said. 'The [European Union] is becoming too expensive and people are re-evaluating just how much they want to visit the United States, so Australia is gaining favour.'