Cathay Pacific restarts Cairns-Hong Kong flights

Cathay Pacific’s Australian rebound continues this week, with the Oneworld member flying three times a week between Cairns and Hong Kong.

It’s only a seasonal return for now, between December 17 2024 and March 29 2025, but beyond the appeal of Hong Kong itself the flights will offer an easy connection to London, Europe, the Chinese Mainland, India and even North America

After all, Hong Kong can be a comfortable stopver en route to any of Cathay’s US or Canadian destinations, without having to first fly south from Cairns to Brisbane or Sydney.

Departing thrice-weekly every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on an Airbus A330, the schedule is as follows:

• CX146 sees wheels up from Cairns at 12pm, touching down in Hong Kong at 5:15pm
• CX147 jets off from Hong Kong at 1:05am, arriving in Cairns at 10:30am

The A330 is fitted with 28 business class flat beds in a passenger-friendly 1-2-1 layout, followed by 265 seats in economy – however, on these older A330 jets there is no premium economy cabin.

Cathay Pacific's comfortable A330 business class.

Business class passengers and Cathay Diamond members on all Cathay Pacific flights now enjoy free WiFi, with paid plans from US$10 for one hour to US$13 for up to six hours, and US$20 for an entire flight (over six hours).

There’s also the flat-rate $5 alternative for a 3G connection through the inflight roaming options of Optus and Vodafone.

Also read: Flight mode off – I tried mobile roaming on a plane

Executive Traveller has reached out for comment on whether business class travellers will be welcomed into Cairns Airport’s newly-reopened airport lounge, which currently unlocks its doors for business class and frequent flyers on Singapore Airlines.

The new Cairns international lounge.

In Hong Kong, lounge-worthy travellers have their pick of Cathay’s five Hong Kong lounges – The Wing First (home to private cabana suites), plus The Wing Business, The Pier First, The Pier Business and The Deck – along with the Qantas Hong Kong Lounge, at least until that lounge closes in the late evening.

The final missing piece in Cathay’s Australian network is Adelaide, which is now expected to remain off the map until at least 2025.

“While Adelaide is being considered, we do not have a definite timeline on a return to the city,” a Cathay Pacific spokesperson has told Executive Traveller.

Speaking with Executive Traveller earlier this year, Cathay’s regional boss Frosti Lau noted that in terms of resuming Australian routes or increasing the frequency of some flights, “we are competing with aircraft resources and also looking at where are the opportunities” across the rest of the world, especially in North America and Europe.

In other words, every returning or new destination on Cathay’s network map has to battle for still-limited jets and crew.

Also read: 10 things you’ll love about Cathay’s Aria Suites business class