Cathay Pacific Wants More Flights to Aus

With a limited number of flights to about 70 per week from Australia and Hongkong, Cathay Pacific hopes to increase its services in the country and may be working to have the cap lifted so that it can pursue additional flights.

The airline company already services six destinations in the country, which includes Melbourne and Sydney. It believes there’s a growing market for cargo flights that will increase the routes of its planes from Australia to China, particularly with the demand rising for seafood and fresh produce in the Chinese regions.

One Cathay Pacific executive said, “When the market grows we want to have the capacity to allow us to grow.” A huger percentage of Cathay’s profits come from cargo flights and the company is not keen on having a low-cost carrier to match its competitions, like Jet Star Hong Kong.

But analysts say that swaying the Australian government to raise the limitations may be a challenge for Cathay, as it can result to a capacity boost. The market is already competitive as it is. The analyst said, “At the end of the day the governments should look after the public interest, and expansion will provide more public interest.”

Hong Kong, which is where Cathay originally operates, has had bilateral air rights discussion between the Australian government recently.