Cathay Pacific hungry for daily service

A SENIOR Cathay Pacific executive has hailed the response to the airline’s  new direct flight from Manchester to Hong Kong and said the plan is for it to move to a daily service.

Rupert Hogg, chief operating officer at Cathay Pacific, was speaking at a gala dinner at Manchester Town Hall last night to celebrate the new four times weekly service, which began on December 8.

The event was attended by Manchester investment, tourism and avaiation bosses along with Lord Nat Wei the peer who is a director of the Manchester-China Forum. A delegation of business, academic and tourist leaders from Hong Kong were there too, having flown in on Thursday morning.

Mr Hogg praised the feeling of “innovation, excitement and growth” in Manchester and said the city was, like Hong Kong a “great trading hub” with the same “can-do attitude” as the territory.

He said: “This is a very significant moment and we are very enthusiastic about the future and are delighted to be celebrating our newest route. We’d like to get it to a daily service as quickly as possible. We have had an excellent start with healty load factors in terms of passenger and cargo.

“We know Manchester has a large Chinese population, and is a popular choice for many Chinese students too. We see it as the gateway to the north and Scotland too, and that is why we have arranged the code share with Flybe.

“Hong Kong too is the third-largest passenger hub in the world and offers a gateway into China for North West businesses and tourists visiting the Far East.”

Mr Hogg said  Cathay Pacific was in a “new era of expansion in Europe” and is launching flights from Zurich and Dusseldorf later this year.

After the formalities, guests were treated to a “Walking on Air” fashion show which saw Cathay cabin crew modelling the uniforms the airline has used since it was founded in 1946.