Hong Kong Airlines plans to accelerate intercontinental expansion

Hong Kong Airlines plans to accelerate its intercontinental expansion with the scheduled delivery of its first Airbus A350 in Aug 2017. In 2010, the carrier ordered 15 A350s, which will be introduced starting from 2017, and 10 A330s that were delivered starting from 2012. It also placed an order for 9 more A330s in Sept 2016. The carrier expects to open new routes to Vancouver; London; New York; San Francisco; Los Angeles; Paris; Melbourne, Australia; Sydney; Milan; Chicago; and Christchurch, New Zealand, between 2017-20. The carrier opened 2 intercontinental routes (Hong Kong-Gold Coast-Keynes and Hong Kong-Auckland) earlier this year. CCO Li Dianchun said the carrier can utilise sixth-freedom rights to attract more of China’s mainland passengers, to maintain a high load factor that is expected to reach 82% this year. <br/>