Hong Kong Airlines will return to North America early next year by resuming its Vancouver route, the carrier’s chairman has said, hailing the move as part of its transformation into an international operator.
Yan Bo, the chairman of Hong Kong Airlines, announced on Thursday the service to the Canadian city would return on January 18, with details to be unveiled later.
“This strategic move signifies the airline’s transformation from a regional carrier into an international airline, with a focus on expanding its global route network amid the economic recovery,” he said.
“Through strategic planning, the airline has demonstrated a strong recovery capability by optimising its route network and adjusting its fleet structure, which now covers more than 30 destinations.”
The announcement followed an earlier confirmation from the carrier that it would resume direct flights between Hong Kong and the Gold Coast in Australia, the company’s first step back into the long-haul market amid an expansion of its network.
The airline had said flights to the Gold Coast would operate seasonally from January 17 to February 15, with the four-times-a-week service running for five weeks over the Lunar New Year period. It will offer about 6,000 seats on an A330 widebody aircraft.
With a fleet size of about 30 Airbus aircraft, the company expected to reach its annual traffic target of carrying more than 5 million passengers by the end of this year, Yan said.
The number of flight sectors had already reached pre-pandemic levels, with an average passenger load factor of about 85 per cent, he said.
A sector refers to a single flight, while the load factor is a measure of how many seats are filled on planes.
He said bookings for the Christmas and Lunar New Year period had already reached 85 per cent capacity, with those for routes to ski resorts in Northeast Asia reaching 90 per cent.
“With this strong demand, the airline will increase flight frequency on relevant routes from December,” he said.
Yan said the airline would explore opening other routes to strengthen ties with belt and road countries and international markets, especially with the opening of the three-runway system at Hong Kong International Airport next Thursday.
The Belt and Road Initiative is Beijing’s push to link economies across Asia, Europe, Africa and South America into a China-centred trade network.
“We will develop our full service operation in full gear with the resumption of our American routes under consideration,” he said.
“Hong Kong Airlines will utilise the ‘airport city’ infrastructure and surrounding aviation network to deepen cooperation with cities in the Greater Bay Area and promote intermodal transportation”…
