Cathay Pacific boosts services to Toronto and Auckland

From 1 January 2008, Cathay Pacific's service from Hong Kong to Toronto, currently routed through Anchorage, will become a daily non-stop flight. The introduction of the non-stop service will trim 2 hours 25 minutes off the current flying time. The flight will initially be operated by an Airbus A340-600 but from February the airline will progressively introduce its new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on the route featuring Cathay Pacific's new three-class long-haul product.

At the same time as launching the direct non-stop service, the airline will keep three weekly flights with a stopover in Anchorage, departing every Monday, Thursday and Saturday. This will take the number of flights to Toronto to 10 each week.

In order to match demand over the winter peak, from 1 December 2007 to 29 March 2008, Cathay Pacific will be operating a twice-daily service to Auckland. For the summer schedule, effective 30 March to 25 October 2008, the airline will operate 10 scheduled flights a week to the New Zealand city, which means three more flights will be added each week compared to the summer schedule in 2007.

The additional flights will enable Cathay Pacific to leverage on the significant growth in Mainland China visitors to New Zealand, connecting with its sister carrier Dragonair's extensive Mainland network through the Hong Kong hub.

Cathay Pacific Director Corporate Development Augustus Tang said: "The enhancements of our services to Toronto and Auckland will be a real boon for our customers. In particular, passengers to and from Toronto will welcome the new non-stop service and the impending introduction of our 777-300ER aircraft and innovative new inflight product on the route. Cathay Pacific will continue to enhance its products and services as part of its commitment to further building Hong Kong's position as one of the leading international aviation hubs."

The Toronto and Auckland enhancements come on top of recently enhanced services to Vancouver, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Tokyo. Cathay Pacific is continuing to grow its fleet with a total of 48 aircraft due for delivery by 2012. Five of 30 new 777-300ERs on order will have joined the fleet by the end of 2007, all fitted with the new three-class long-haul product. The product is also being retrofitted onto the airline's existing long-haul fleet.

See below for full details of the Toronto and Auckland flight enhancements.

TORONTO

Effective 1 January 2008

• Daily non-stop flight and three direct flights (with a stopover in Anchorage) per week (a total of 10 flights weekly)
• Please refer to the Cathay Pacific website for latest flight schedules

* 2-14 Jan 08
** From 15 Jan 08

AUCKLAND

Effective 1 December 2007 to 29 March 2008

• Double-daily flight for winter schedule

Effective 30 March 2008 to 25 October 2008

• Ten flights per week for summer schedule; 3 extra flights added per week compared to the summer schedule in 2007
  

Please note the above times may change due to daylight saving in Auckland.