Cathay Pacific to operate non-stop to New York

Cathay Pacific Airways is to commence a daily non-stop service from Hong Kong to New York, starting 1 July. This will be the only daily non-stop service between the two cities and, with the continuation of the airline's existing one-stop service via Vancouver, Cathay Pacific will also be the only airline operating two daily services on this route.

With the addition of the new flights, Cathay Pacific will operate 72 passenger and cargo services a week between Hong Kong and North America. The airline serves 24 cities in the United States, either direct or through code share passenger services.

Cathay Pacific will operate the new service with the ultra-long-haul Airbus A340-600 and follow a route over the northern polar region. Passengers could save about three hours on the journey time and will avoid the inconvenience of having their rest disturbed during an intermediary stop. Its earlier departure time from both Hong Kong and New York also offers passengers greater flexibility making travels plans.

Cathay Pacific's A340-600 operates with an expanded Business Class cabin to reflect the anticipated popularity of the service among business travellers. There are eight First Class, 60 Business Class and 220 Economy Class seats. Given the unusually long duration of daylight hours during the Hong Kong to New York leg of the non-stop flight, additional refreshments and light snacks will be served to help passengers reset their body clocks.

The airline has recently added passenger services to London, Auckland, Johannesburg, Colombo, Osaka, Taipei and Sapporo and resumed services to Beijing.

Cathay Pacific Deputy Chairman and Chief Executive David Turnbull said: "Operating non-stop between Hong Kong and New York is a major undertaking. Our groundbreaking daily non-stop service reflects the airline's commitment to give our customers greater flexibility and choice and to strengthen Hong Kong as a global hub and gateway to the Chinese Mainland."