Next year, award-winning airline operator Cathay Pacific will be opening a direct route from Copenhagen to the fascinating Chinese metropolis of Hong Kong. This is good news for Danish leisure and business travellers, and heralds an increase in the number of Chinese tourists travelling to Denmark.

Written 31.08 2017

At 1.55 p.m. on 2 May 2018, Cathay Pacific's Airbus A350-900 will depart from Copenhagen to Hong Kong, marking several years' hard work to establish a direct route from Denmark to one of the world's most important cities.

Rupert Hogg, Chief Executive Officer, Cathay Pacific, says: 'We're excited to offer the only direct flights between Copenhagen and Hong Kong. It's a fantastic destination and attracts business and leisure travellers from the world over. We listened to our customers' demands for more options and greater flexibility and have responded by building direct air links with this great city.'

A milestone in CPH's route development
With a population of close to 8 million, Hong Kong itself is an intriguing destination, featuring both skyscrapers and green spaces as well as an exotic blend of the city's Chinese and multicultural past as a British Crown Colony.

Furthermore, the pulsating business sector includes a large number of the most important Danish companies that have interests and commerce in Hong Kong.

'Denmark getting a direct connection to Hong Kong marks a milestone in CPH's work to establish new routes. Cathay Pacific's route to the Chinese metropolis has been on the top of the list of unserviced destinations from Denmark and will benefit both growth and tourism as well as offering a wealth of new and appealing travel opportunities,' says Peter Krogsgaard, Copenhagen Airport's Commercial Director.

More Chinese visitors to Denmark
At first this will be a seasonal route from May to October inclusive, with at least three weekly departures: on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There is a solid basis for this. CPH's passenger figures show that 27,000 passengers flew from Copenhagen to Hong Kong via other airports in 2016 - an increase of 44% in just three years.

'All our experience shows that a new direct route means even more travellers. This also applies to Chinese people as Cathay Pacific will be offering them the possibility of choosing an award-winning Chinese airline, and we therefore expect the number of Chinese tourists in Denmark to grow,' says Peter Krogsgaard.

WOCO predicts growth and more jobs
Mikkel Aarø-Hansen, Managing Director of Wonderful Copenhagen (WOCO) and Chairman of Denmark's route development programme, Global Connected, says:

'A direct route between Hong Kong and Copenhagen is great news, particularly as we are midway through the official Chinese-Danish Year of Tourism. While international competition is fierce when it comes to claiming a share of the Chinese outbound travel market, this new route is an excellent example of what we can achieve when working together and investing in accessibility. I firmly believe that the new route will create new jobs and benefit Denmark and Greater Copenhagen.'

Plenty of new travel options
The new route will also offer completely new travel opportunities for Danish leisure and business passengers to fly via Hong Kong to other destinations in Cathay Pacific's vast network, for example to Australia, Bali and the rest of Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and megacities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in the south of China.

On the route to Copenhagen, Cathay will deploy the new model A350-900, which is Airbus's response to Boeing's popular B787 Dreamliner. The Airbus will have 280 seats, including 38 Business Class and 28 Premium Economy.

The flight time from Copenhagen to Hong Kong will be just under 12 hours.

Facts:

  • The route between Copenhagen and Hong Kong will be serviced by Airbus's new 280-seater A350-900 model.
  • The flight will arrive from Hong Kong at 6.30 a.m. and fly back there at 1.55 p.m.
  • Founded in 1946, Cathay Pacific is headquartered in Hong Kong and has more than 140 aircraft.
  • Cathay currently flies to approximately 180 destinations in 44 countries. The airline and its two subsidiaries, Air Hong Kong and Cathay Dragon, have a total of 33,800 employees.
  • In 2016, Cathay Pacific was named the world's fifth best airline by Skytrax. It won the award in 2009.
  • It is a member of the Oneworld Alliance, which includes British Airways and American Airlines.

Københavns Lufhavnes A/S published this content on 31 August 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 August 2017 09:52:02 UTC.

Original documenthttps://www.cph.dk/en/about-cph/press/news/20171/8/new-cathay-pacific-route-form-cph-to-hongkong/

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