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Cathay prepares for Abu Dhabi – Hong Kong launch

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Chin...increased capacity

AS CATHAY Pacific prepares to launch a new service from Abu Dhabi, TTN speaks to NELSON CHIN, country manager UAE and Oman, about the carrier’s plans.

How is this year looking in comparison to previous years?

In 2010, we have increased capacity, predominantly to serve the growing passenger demand to and from the Middle East and Asia Pacific and China. Jeddah, for instance, became a daily flight from Hong Kong.

Heightened competition in the region has certainly ensured that we needed to put every effort into giving our customers good reasons to travel on Cathay Pacific by providing quality product and services catering to the needs of our valued customers, at very competitive fares.

Certain regions such as Dubai have been hit harder by the global financial crisis, but that said, Cathay Pacific has always taken a long-term perspective of the region. Our recent decision to serve Abu Dhabi from June 2, 2011 cements our belief in the future of the Middle East.

Our ambition in 2011 is simple: to be the carrier of choice linking passengers who wish to fly between the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Hong Kong is a natural hub linking the two regions and our objective is to build on this strength. Traffic flow continues to grow between these two regions and in particular with mainland China, which the Cathay Pacific Group serves with an extensive network of more than 17 ports.

Has the unrest in the region affected business?

Naturally passengers would be concerned to travel to any destination where security would be a concern. We make an effort to let people know that the UAE is stable and a very friendly place that welcomes tourists.

What was the reasoning behind the decision to open up the Abu Dhabi route?

Abu Dhabi is a distinctive and growing market which deserves better connections to and from Asia Pacific. Cathay Pacific will serve this well, by becoming the only carrier to operate non-stop services to Hong Kong, and to offer some of the best connections in particular to mainland China, North Asia, Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the Philippines, as well as the rest of Southeast  Asia and Australasia.

Within the last five years, we have grown our presence beyond Bahrain and Dubai, to include soon-to-be five Middle East destinations including Riyadh, Jeddah, and soon Abu Dhabi.

With the progressive market and economy of Abu Dhabi, we believe it is now time to better serve the market with direct flights to Hong Kong.

Are there any further developments in the pipeline?

We have in total 91 aircraft on order which will be delivered between now and 2019.  The new orders will allow for us to start retiring older, less fuel-efficient or environmentally-friendly aircraft in the coming few years, develop our route network and grow our airline. For example, the long-haul, mid-sized nature of A350 will make new flight services to secondary cities in Europe more commercially viable.

The next new destination we will be flying to will be Chicago in September this year.

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