Cathay Pacific continues in its efforts to rebuild its network to what it was prior to 2020. Australia is one of the markets the Hong Kong based airline is working hardest in. The country relies heavily on air transport for business and is also a tourist magnet for holidaymakers around the world. Chinese holidaymakers particularly love heading down to Australia, and this is exactly the market segment Cathay is trying to intercept with the launch of its newest Aussie flight CX147 from Hong Kong to Cairns.
CX147 Cathay Pacific’s New Hong Kong To Cairns Flight
Cairns is set to become the airline’s newest and fifth destination in Australia. Cathay Pacific will be connecting its Hong Kong base with the north Queensland city throughout the 2024 winter season, or southern summer. The flight is primarily focused on tourist and VFR (visiting friends and relatives) traffic between China and north Queensland.
The first flight will takeoff on December 17th 2024 with the last service to fly on March 29th 2025. The intent of intercepting both peaks of the Australian summer holidays and the Lunar New Year is clear. The airline forecasts quite an influx of passengers as it will operate the flight with a three-times weekly frequency on a high-capacity plane.
The aircraft of choice is the two-class Cathay Pacific A330-300. These planes seat up to 293 passengers on a fully loaded cabin, featuring:
- 28 Business Class lie-flat seats
- 265 Economy Class seats
This is one of the least premium heavy configurations CX has one its planes. Therefore, reinforcing the message that this is a leisure-oriented service.
Timing of Cathay Pacific Flight CX147
| Flight Number | Departure Airport | Airport Code | Departure Time | Arrival Airport | Airport Code | Arrival Time | Flight Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | CX147 | Hong Kong | HKG | 01:05 | Cairns | CNS | 10:30 | 7h 25min |
| CX148 | Cairns | CNS | 12:00 | Hong Kong | HKG | 17:15 | 7h 15min |
The flight out of Hong Kong is a redeye service heading down south to Cairns in Queensland. As often happens when flying out of Asian airports the departure time is quite a tough one with the flight scheduled for 1:05 out of HKG and arriving mid-morning in northern Australia.
Much easier to manage is the return flight timing as flight CX146 departs Cairns at noon and arrives into Hong Kong International Airport at 17:15.
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