Two months ago Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific inaugurated its Tel Aviv - Hong Kong route with four weekly flights. Within a week, at the start of April, Cathay Pacific announced that it was expanding the number of weekly flights from four to five due to high passenger demand. Now it appears that this is not sufficient, and the Hong Kong carrier says that it will introduce a sixth weekly flight during the holiday season from September 18 to October 23.
Cathay Pacific currently operates flights from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and from September 1 on Fridays. Using A-350 Airbus passenger jets, flights leave Ben Gurion Airport at 1.50 pm and touch down in Hong Kong at 5.10 am the following morning. Return flights leave at 1 am and touch down in Tel Aviv at 7.40 am the same morning. The duration of the flights is 10 hours 20 minutes from Tel Aviv to Hong Kong and 11 hours 40 minutes from Hong Kong to Tel Aviv.
Cathay Pacific's marketing and sales manager in Israel Shay Lahav said, "Since flights begaqn operating in March, we have seen major demand from tourists and groups travelling on to destinations like Japan, Seoul, Shanghai and the Philippines. To provide a response to this big demand during the holidays, we asked to add a seasonal flight."
The price of a ticket to Hong Kong including all taxes and charges begins from $924. With connection flights to Tokyo and Bangkok the fare is $1,067.From its base in Hong Kong's main airport Cathaqy Pacific flies to 200 destinations. Its subsidiary Cathay Dragon flies to 53 destinations in Asia including 23 cities in China.
Cathay Pacific is providing competition for El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), which vuntil March had a monopoly on direct Tel Aviv - Hong Kong flights.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 23, 2017
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