Air France deploys A380 to Hong Kong

Air France has this week launched an A380 service to Hong Kong. The daily summer seasonal route began on Tuesday and runs until October 25.

A superjumbo will be deployed four times weekly — on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays — until June 8, and again from June 16 to 22. During these periods, the other three services will be operated by a B777-300.

At all other times until October 25, Air France will fly a daily A380 service on the route.

Flight AF188 leaves Paris Charles de Gaulle at 2325 and arrives in Hong Kong at 1720 local time the following day. Return service AF187 departs Hong Kong at 0050 and arrives at Paris CDG at 0800 local time the same day.

Hong Kong is the carrier's second destination in China to be served by the A380, after Shanghai.

Earlier this month, Air France unveiled its new first class cabin product (see news,May 7).

Read More

Cathay Pacific to fly to Zurich

Cathay Pacific Airways has announced plans to launch a new service from Hong Kong to Zurich.

Tickets are already on sale for the new service, which is scheduled to commence on 29 March 2015. Flights will operate daily, departing Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) at 0015, arriving in Zurich at 0655. The return leg will then depart the Swiss city at 1330, getting back into HKIA at 0645 the following day.

The route will be operated using a four-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with first, business, premium economy and economy class seats.

“We are very pleased to be able to add Zurich to our growing international network,” said Cathay Pacific’s chief executive, Ivan Chu.

“Zurich and Hong Kong are two of the world’s leading financial centres, where people appreciate high standards of service, and we are seeing considerable demand for a quality travel experience, especially on long-haul routes.”

Zurich will become Cathay’s first destination in Switzerland.

Read More

Meet the Gulfstream you can take nonstop from New York to Hong Kong

Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. on Monday announced a new extended-range version of G650 model, one it says now represents the longest range of any business jet in the world.

With a range of up to 7,500 nautical miles — roughly 8,600 miles — the plane will open up new potential nonstop flights from cities as far apart as New York and Hong Kong.

The increased range beats by more than 500 nautical miles the range of the current G650, which entered service in 2012.

The G650ER has upgraded engines, but will share the same cabin, avionics and systems as the G650.

Savannah, Ga.-based Gulfstream said in a press release that the new version is undergoing Federal Aviation Administration certification and that current G650 owners and order-holders will be able to upgrade to the G650ER beginning in the first quarter of 2015 when it enters service.

Read More

Dubai Overtakes Heathrow as Busiest Airport for International Passengers

Dubai International became the busiest airport globally for international passengers in the first quarter, overtaking London's Heathrow, and illustrating the stellar growth of Emirates Airline in less than 30 years of operations.

Dubai's main hub, the home of Emirates, handled 18.36 million international passengers in the first quarter of the year, Dubai Airports said in a statement Monday. Heathrow saw a total 16.1 million people pass through the airport in the same period, according to statements on the airport's website.

Heathrow pipped Dubai last year to the top spot for international traffic, followed by Hong Kong and Paris, according to official figures from Airports Council International, a global trade body, which hasn't released first quarter figures yet.

Statements from all four airports show Dubai to be the busiest airport for international passengers and the fastest-growing in the first quarter, as the number of people passing through the hub increased 11.4%, compared with the same period a year earlier.

"The growth in passenger and freight traffic supports our continued investment in expanding and improving our facilities at Dubai International," said Paul Griffiths, chief executive officer of Dubai Airports.

Dubai International's growth is being driven by Emirates and its strategy of using widebody aircraft to connect passengers in Asia and Australasia with Europe and the U.S. via a stop in its home hub. The airline carried nearly 40 million passengers in its last fiscal year. It and lower-cost, shorter-haul carrier flydubai, which is also based at Dubai International and growing apace, helped add 28 new destinations to the airport last year.

Having started operations in 1985, Emirates now serves 142 destinations in 80 countries and territories making it one of the largest carriers in the world, and it plans to grow further. The airline has 374 jets on order with Boeing Co. and Airbus Group worth a combined $162 billion. That is on top of the 218 it currently flies, although many of those aircraft will replace some of the current fleet.

Flydubai is also soaring. It increased passengers last year by 38% to 6.8 million. To cater for forecast growth of both Emirates and flydubai, Dubai Airports has plans to increase capacity at Dubai International from 75 million currently to 100 million by 2020.

The airport may still be edged out by Heathrow for the full year, as Dubai International plans an 80-day improvement project on its two runways on May 1 that will reduce the number of flights at the airport by 24%, and impact Emirates full-year revenues by $272 million.

Read More

Cathay Pacific says net profit tripled in 2013

Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific said on Wednesday net profit more than tripled last year on a rise in Chinese travellers and fuel-cost savings, but its cargo unit saw earnings fall while analysts warned of a tough future.

The city’s flag-carrier said profit jumped to HK$2.62 billion ($338 million, Dh1.2 million) from HK$862 million in 2012 as revenue climbed 1.1 per cent to HK$100.5 billion.

Read More