Hong Kong Airlines Confirms Premium London Service

Hong Kong Airlines has confirmed its plans to launch what it describes as an “all Club Class” daily service between Hong Kong and London. Details of the airline’s ambitious entry into the UK market were revealed earlier this year but the carrier has remained tight-lipped over its proposed operations until now. It is understood that this has been due to negotiations to secure slots in London, however, after failing to secure the necessary rights to serve London Heathrow at the times it wished, the carrier will instead serve the North Terminal at London Gatwick.

Hong Kong Airlines will launch the daily service between Hong Kong and London Gatwick from March 8, 2012 using three specially configured Airbus A330-200s which will be delivered directly from the manufacturer at the start of next year. The aircraft will operate overnight in each direction, arriving in London during the early hours and departing back to Hong Kong in the evening.

The airline will offer a two-class arrangement: ‘Club Premier’ and ‘Club Classic’. Club Premier will include 34 luxurious suites with fully flat 6’1” beds configured 1-2-1 in the two forward cabins; a fine dining service with individual table settings, superior wines and champagne; turndown service with duvets, pyjamas and slippers and luxury amenity kits. Meanwhile, Club Classic will feature 82 cradle seats configured 2-2-2 over two cabins with a spacious 51” seat pitch with 22” width and superior dining. All cabins come complete with WIFI, AVOD, digital magazines and high definition 16:9 ratio widescreens; 15.4” in Club Premier and 10.4” in Club Classic.

“We have gained a reputation for outstanding service over the past five years and we look forward to extending this to our new flagship route, connecting two global business capitals of the world,” said Gerard Clarke, General Manager UK, Hong Kong Airlines. “The concept for the all Club Class aircraft will provide passengers with a private jet style ambience and an exceptional crew to guest ratio, and we are confident that we have the right knowledge and experience to make a success of the new all Club Class daily service.”

Speaking to The HUB at last week’s World Travel Market (WTM), Gerard Clarke confirmed that this is likely to be the first of a number of new European destinations for Hong Kong Airlines. The Asian carrier already serves Moscow, but Mr Clarke said that other destinations in Europe were “under evaluating” but these would be served with a more traditional configuration and not the premium product being used to London. “Traffic between Hong Kong and London is buoyant and there is strong O&D demand and good connection opportunities into mainland China, this will certainly be the airline’s flagship route,” he added.

There is obviously a strong demand between London and Hong Kong. An estimated 989,000 O&D passengers travelled between the two destinations in the past year, up 4.6 per cent on the previous 12 months. The table below highlights the main operators on the route, some of which offer services via connecting points in the Middle East and Asia.

There is no doubting the O&D demand between Hong Kong and London. In fact, during a discussion with The HUB during WTM, Dr Zhihang Chi, Vice President and General Manager North America, Air China revealed that if the Chinese flag carrier had rights for this route it would have almost certainly ordered the Airbus A380 simply to serve this link. “We currently don’t see any routes in our network with sufficient demand for the A380,” he explained when questioned on the airline’s fleet strategy. “However, if we were permitted to serve a route like Hong Kong – London then we would have almost certainly ordered the aircraft,” he added.

Hong Kong Airlines is offering a service with a difference though with a stronger focus on yield rather than just loads. In the past airlines that have previously adopted this model and offered an all-premium service on international routes have found it difficult to penetrate the hold of the established operators. The carrier is certainly providing a real choice to business and premium leisure traffic to between Hong Kong and London, but perhaps it will be the offer of excellent connections to other points in Asia that could help it develop a sustainable service.