The Australian reports that Cathay Pacific is diverting capacity from weakening North American markets to boost flights to Brisbane, Sydney and Perth.
The Hong Kong-based airline said the new flights, prompted by consistently high demand from Australia, were part of a new round of capacity redeployment aimed at offsetting high fuel prices.
Cathay Pacific is the sixth-biggest carrier servicing Australia in terms of international passengers and has 5.1 per cent share of the international passenger market with 71 flights a week.
The changes will move that to 79 flights a week and will see Perth become a daily service with two more flights a week from October 26, while Brisbane will move to 10 flights a week. Sydney will increase from 25 weekly flights to four a day.
This is the second fuel-related change to Cathay Pacific’s network and includes a reduction in the number of flights to North America by 10 and upgrading to bigger aircraft for 14 European flights each week.
The changes result in no overall difference in capacity and come after a deployment in July that included changes to services to the Middle East, Canada and New Zealand.
A Report by The Mole from The Australian
