Cathay Pacific to offer daily service to Hong Kong from Manchester
Cathay Pacific has announced that it will be bolstering its frequency in the North West by offering daily flights between Manchester and Hong Kong as of December 1.
The extra services will operate on Sundays and Wednesdays.
Having announced at the end of last year that it would be increasing its current four-times-weekly schedule to five-times-weekly as of June 2 this year, Cathay Pacific is further increasing the frequency to a daily service to meet growing customer demand in the region.
Neil Glenn, Cathay Pacific general manager for Europe, said: “Our frequency increases are a direct result of responding to the needs of our customers.
“Since we initially launched the route in December 2014, we’ve been delighted with how popular it has proved.
“The enhanced schedule will provide business and leisure travellers in the North West with more choice and greater flexibility in planning their trips for added convenience, while at the same time strengthening Hong Kong’s position as Asia’s leading aviation hub. From there, the airline serves over 190 destinations via Hong Kong International Airport, including 22 destinations within mainland China.”
“This announcement underscores our commitment to not only the North West and the UK, but also to serving key long-haul markets around the globe.
“Furthermore, our codeshare agreement with Flybe enables our passengers to book domestic flights with Cathay Pacific from major regional destinations across the country – therefore increasing our reach within the UK even further.”
Stephen Turner, commercial director at Manchester Airport, said: “For Cathay Pacific to recently announce an increase to five flights per week was excellent news in itself, but for them now to go to a daily service from December clearly showcases the strong demand for the route.
“In just a few years the route is performing extremely positively and allows the 22 million people in our catchment area easy, direct access to Hong Kong and beyond.
“It continues to unlock economic opportunities and trade between the two regions and I am sure the extra frequency will be welcomed by business and leisure passengers alike.”
Paul Stowers, deputy director, Department for International Trade (DIT) North West, added: “China and Hong Kong have become hugely significant markets for North West exporters. China is now consistently in our top five markets overseas whereas in the recent past it struggled to make the top 10.”
From June onwards, an A350-900 will replace the Boeing 777-300ER on all flights to Manchester, making it the second Cathay Pacific destination in the UK, after Gatwick, to receive the technologically-advanced aircraft.
