Hong Kong’s home carrier returns to Cairns

Hong Kong’s home carrier Cathay Pacific is recommencing flights to Cairns in Australia. The airline will operate a seasonal service of three flights per week from Cairns Airport during the peak holiday period between 17 December 2024 and 29 March 2025. This will include both the Christmas and Chinese New Year festive holiday when Tropical North Queensland traditionally welcomes an influx of international visitors. Cathay Pacific’s services will also provide extensive new connections for locals heading overseas during the summer holidays. Cairns Airport chief executive officer Richard Barker said: “This is a significant announcement for our region as we enter a new era in the relationship between Cairns Airport and Cathay Pacific. “We are pleased to welcome Cathay Pacific back to Cairns later in 2024, at a time when we expect passenger demand to be strong.” A delegation from Tropical North Queensland visited Hong Kong in August 2023 to meet with Cathay Pacific and key travel trade partners. The group, led by tourism minister Michael Healy, included Cairns Airport, Tourism Tropical North Queensland, Department of Tourism and Innovation, Advance Cairns and Trade and Investment Queensland. “We received a warm welcome from the senior executive of Cathay Pacific and with the support of the Queensland Government through the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, the result is being able to welcome three services per week using Cathay Pacific’s two-class configured Airbus A330 aircraft,” Barker said. “This is also a great opportunity for our local exporters to gain direct access to Hong Kong and Mainland China,” he added. The Cathay Group’s passenger and cargo networks offer scheduled services to more than 90 destinations worldwide, including 19 in the Chinese Mainland. The group also serves an additional 149 destinations through codeshare agreements. Frosti Lau, regional general manager, Southwest Pacific said: “It has been nearly five years since Cathay Pacific has flown out of Cairns and we are thrilled to be bringing our services back. This seasonal service will offer direct access to Hong Kong and provide seamless connections to the rest of the world, including into London, the Chinese Mainland, India and the US. It will also encourage inbound visitors from Europe, the US, Canada and key Asian markets.” Tourism Minister and State Member for Cairns, Michael Healy said the news would be welcomed across the business community. “It will lead to growth in tourism numbers, growth in our export market and growth in our Far North regional economy,” he said. “The flights will inject almost 27,000 seats over the season, carrying up to 13,000 inbound international visitors who will spend an estimated AU$20m, and support more jobs in the Cairns region.” The Attracting Aviation Investment Fund (AAIF) has now secured 35 international routes since February 2022, delivering more than 2.27m inbound seats and up to $2bn in overnight visitor spending each year, supporting almost 23,000 Queensland jobs. Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen welcomed the return of Cathay Pacific: “Before the pandemic we relied on international visitors to boost numbers during summer, especially during the Chinese New Year season,” he said.