Interestingly, half of the world’s population lives within a five hour flight of Hong Kong, which could explain why the two former World War II pilots who started off Cathay Pacific in 1946 with just two DC3 aircraft were, unwittingly, on to a good thing.
Cathay flies to three Middle Eastern destinations – Riyadh, Bahrain and Dubai (though the Bahrain to Riyadh sector is only one way) – and have recently upped their Dubai flights from 20 to 24 flights per week.
Cathay is progressively upgrading its fleet, offering in economy new fixed back shell seats, where the frame remains in position whilst the seat slides within the shell. New entertainment systems are also being introduced offering a plethora of entertainment channels in nine different languages.
Business and first class passengers, too, will notice a marked improvement in seating comfort, offering a massage function within the seats, mood lighting and the capacity to turn the seat into a completely flat bed.
The upgrades to Cathay’s aircraft on Middle Eastern routes are expected to be completed by August this year.
Hong Kong’s airport at Chek Lap Kok on Lantau Island is impressively designed and a joy to use. The architect for the airport terminal was Sir Norman Foster. It opened in July 1998 and has since been named the best airport worldwide by Skytrax for five of those 10 years.
According to reports in the South China Morning Post, in line with developing the airport as a major Asian hub, the government is determined to press ahead with its expansion, including a third terminal and a third runway in the next five years, despite the decline in traffic since the start of the current world slump. The plan is to double capacity from 55 to 100 aircraft movements an hour and further develop the middle field area of the airport.
The existing master plan to 2020 also proposes to increase the number of aircraft gates by building an elongated “X” shaped concourse that will provide 49 frontal parking stands and 10 remote, unconnected stands.