Cathay Pacific has announced it will open new direct non-stop routes to Brussels, Dublin and Copenhagen. All three new routes will be opened in 2018.
Brussels
A new direct non-stop service between Brussels and Hong Kong will be operated as from 25 March 2018. The route will be flown four times per week and will be operated with Airbus A350 aircraft. The flight will arrive at Brussels Airport at 06:55 local time and will depart again at 13:10 local time.
The new route will allow Brussels Airport to further strengthen its Asian network. The airport is already connected with Beijing, Tokyo, Bangkok and Mumbai and a new direct flight to Shanghai will be opened soon.
Last year, about 50,000 passengers travelled between Hong Kong and Belgium. The direct route to Hong Kong holds a huge potential for Belgian business travellers who place Hong Kong as the number 1 most wanted destination as it offers convenient onward connections to China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, etc.
For much more info on this new direct non-stop flight between Hong Kong and Brussels, read our separate article ‘Cathay Pacific to connect Brussels Airport and Hong Kong’.
Dublin
A new direct non-stop service between Dublin and Hong Kong will be operated as from 2 June 2018. The route will be flown four times per week and will be operated with Airbus A350 aircraft in a three-class configuration. The route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The new year-round service will be Dublin Airport’s first ever direct route to the Asia-Pacific region and is a major milestone for the airport and the entire Irish economy.
“We are thrilled to welcome Cathay Pacific to Dublin Airport and to Ireland,” said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison. “Dublin Airport is competing for routes like this with other major European airports, so winning this new business is hugely positive news for Ireland, for foreign direct investment, for Irish exporters, and for inbound tourism,” he added.
“This historic new route brings direct flights from Ireland to Hong Kong for the first time and also offers excellent onward connections via Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong hub,” Mr Harrison said. Dublin Airport is “continuing to add significant new airline customers and new routes, providing passengers with increased choice and convenience,” he added.
“We’re excited to offer the only direct flights between Hong Kong and Dublin”, said Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg. “Dublin is a fantastic destination and attracts business and leisure travellers from the world over. We listened to our customers’ demands for more options and greater flexibility and have responded by building direct air links with this great city.”
Winning the landmark new route was a collaborative effort over several years that included a wide range of other bodies, according to Mr Harrison. “We would like to thank the Irish Embassy in China, the Consulate in Hong Kong, our colleagues at Tourism Ireland and other key stakeholders such as IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia.”
Trade between Ireland and China is worth more than €8 billion per annum and almost 100 Irish firms have operations in China, employing a total of 100,000 people there.
Currently about 40,000 people per year travel between Dublin and Hong Kong, but this is expected to grow with the opening of the new direct service. An estimated 4,000 Irish people live in Hong Kong, according to the Irish Embassy in China.
The Dublin flight will arrive in Hong Kong early in the morning local time, providing a wide range of connecting options with flights to mainland China, Japan, Korea, South-East Asia and Australia on the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon networks.
In summer, the flight will depart Dublin at 11.55, arriving in Hong Kong at 07.05. The return flight will depart Hong Kong at 00.50, arriving in Dublin at 06.45. In winter, the flight will depart Dublin at 11.00, arriving in Hong Kong at 07.30. The return flight will depart Hong Kong at 00.15 and arrive in Dublin at 05.30.
Copenhagen
A new direct non-stop service between Copenhagen and Hong Kong will be operated as from 2 May 2018. The route will be seasonal at first and will be flown ‘at least three times per week’ and will be operated with Airbus A350 aircraft. The route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
This new route is good news for Danish leisure and business travellers, and heralds an increase in the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Denmark. Furthermore, it is a true milestone in CPH’s route development.
With a population of close to 8 million, Hong Kong itself is an intriguing destination, featuring both skyscrapers and green spaces as well as an exotic blend of the city’s Chinese and multicultural past as a British Crown Colony. Furthermore, the pulsating business sector includes a large number of the most important Danish companies that have interests and commerce in Hong Kong.
“Denmark getting a direct connection to Hong Kong marks a milestone in CPH’s work to establish new routes. Cathay Pacific’s route to the Chinese metropolis has been on the top of the list of unserviced destinations from Denmark and will benefit both growth and tourism as well as offering a wealth of new and appealing travel opportunities,” says Peter Krogsgaard, Copenhagen Airport’s Commercial Director.
As already mentioned, at first this will be a seasonal route from May to October inclusive, with at least three weekly departures. There is a solid basis for this. CPH’s passenger figures show that 27,000 passengers flew from Copenhagen to Hong Kong via other airports in 2016 – an increase of 44% in just three years.
“All our experience shows that a new direct route means even more travellers. This also applies to Chinese people as Cathay Pacific will be offering them the possibility of choosing an award-winning Chinese airline, and we therefore expect the number of Chinese tourists in Denmark to grow,” says Peter Krogsgaard.
The new route will offer completely new travel opportunities for Danish leisure and business passengers to fly via Hong Kong to other destinations in Cathay Pacific’s vast network, for example to Australia, Bali and the rest of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and megacities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the south of China.
31 August 2017
Photo: copyright (c) Cathay Pacific
