Cathay Pacific Airways is to resume flights to Gatwick Airport after an almost 25 year absence as it expands its flights between Hong Kong and London. The airline plans to introduce a new four times weekly link to the UK airport from September next year, subject to government approval, complementing its existing itineraries into Heathrow Airport.
The Asian carrier already operates five daily services between Hong Kong and London Heathrow as well as a four times weekly link between Hong Kong and Manchester. However, long before it started to build up its operation at Heathrow, it, like many other long-haul carriers, initially utilised Gatwick, switching its services across the UK capital in October 1993.
Cathay Pacific says the new four times weekly link to Gatwick will provide passengers living in Greater London and the counties of Kent, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex and Hampshire a more convenient way to travel to Hong Kong and via the extensive hub to Asia and beyond and will complement its existing Heathrow operation.
The new flight is scheduled to commence from September 2, 2016 and will be flown using brand new Airbus A350-900 equipment with a refreshed Business Class cabin as well as new Premium Economy Class and Economy Class seats. The type is configured in a J38W28Y214 layout.
“Cathay Pacific has been serving London for 35 years and our commitment to the UK market is very strong. We are delighted to launch a non-stop service to Gatwick, using our new state-of-the-art A350 aircraft, which will help meet increasing demand for both business and leisure travel between the Asia Pacific region and the UK,” said Ivan Chu, Chief Executive Officer, Cathay Pacific.
These additional flights to London will provide our passengers with greater choice and flexibility and, at the same time, continue to boost Hong Kong’s standing as an international aviation hub,” he added.
Cathay Pacific is already the largest operator in the Hong Kong – London market by capacity, according to data from schedules provider, OAG. The airline has a 58.7 per cent share of the available non-stop capacity in this market ahead of British Airways (29.9 per cent share) and Virgin Atlantic Airways (11.4 per cent share).
In the last ten years Air New Zealand, Hong Kong Airlines, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines and Qantas have all also served this market but the reduced competition has enabled the three incumbent airlines to enhance their own positions in the market over the past couple of years.
MIDT data shows that British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways are now reporting average annual loads in excess of 80 per cent, while Cathay Pacific has seen its own average loads exceed the 90 per cent barrier in the last three years. While segment demand last year declined 16.0 per cent from a ten year high in 2008, according to Sabre, available capacity fell 28.2 per cent in the same period.
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