An article published Saturday, September 2nd in the South China Morning Post details Hong Kong Airlines’ desire to launch 3 new non-stop services; two in the United States and one Europe.
All three of these routes will be operated by HKA’s new Airbus A350-900, which will be delivered starting in September, 2017. According to Chinese website xinhuanet, Hong Kong Airline’s will outfit its A350’s with a total of 334 seats in a 3 class configuration consisting of 33 (fully flat) business class seats, 108 premium economy seats, and 193 standard economy seats.
Business class looks pretty good on these aircraft, as they are equipped with staggered fully flat seats arranged in a 1-2-1 configuration. This allows all premium passengers to have direct aisle access.
Right now, the airline’s only destination in North America is Vancouver (YVR), although that is set to change with the introduction of non-stop service to Los Angeles (LAX) this December (2017).
The airline has not yet announced which airports they will fly into for their proposed San Francisco, New York, and London services, as all three cities have numerous serviceable airports with easy access to their respective city. I don’t want to just assume that the airline will fly into SFO, JFK, and LHR as landing slots can be quite expensive and make some routes unsustainable.
Instead, I am looking forward to seeing if HKA will utilize surrounding airports like San Jose, Oakland (OAK), Newark (EWR), or London-Gatwick (LGW) in an effort to minimize residual airport costs. When operating long haul flights like HKG-NYC, saving money in any way possible is a priority. This is especially true for an airline with no established long haul services currently in its network like HKA.
As it stands, Hong Kong Airlines does not have any U.S. airline partners, so be on the lookout for a codeshare announcement between HKA and a U.S. carrier. This will help the airline compete with the likes of (much larger) Cathay Pacific (which codeshares with American Airlines) and could connect passengers from HKG to secondary markets in the USA beyond just NYC, SFO, and LAX.
To the Point!
This is a fantastic development for the travelers regularly flying to Hong Kong from North America (and vice versa). Cathay dominates the non-stop market to HKG, so it will be good for consumers to see some increased competition, and therefore lower ticket prices.
Yet again, we see how the combination of low fuel prices and fuel efficient aircraft like the A350 can open up new routes for airlines around the world. I am excited to see what ultra long-haul services are announced next!
Do You Plan on Flying Any of Hong Kong Airlines’ New Routes to North America or Europe?
*Tip of the hat to Will Horton for retweeting South China Morning Post article.
*Featured Image courtesy of Airbus
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