Cathay Pacific plans to grow new US services

Cathay Pacific will grow its new routes to Seattle Tacoma and Washington Dulles before adding any new US markets, says chief executive Rupert Hogg. The carrier hopes to increase frequency from four-times weekly to both new destinations – Seattle begins in March 2019 and Dulles began on 15 September – he tells FlightGlobal at an event at Washington Dulles today. "Once we launch a new destination, we try to get to daily," says Hogg. "I think you'll see more of that to [our] new destinations." Cathay Pacific operates a 334-seat Airbus A350-1000 to Dulles, and will operate a 280-seat A350-900 to Seattle. The Hong Kong-based airline is targeting technology centres and, to a lesser extent, educational centres for expansion, says Hogg. Washington fits both of these, he adds, citing the technology cluster near Dulles airport and the multiple universities in Washington DC. Seattle, similarly, is a major technology centre, including the headquarters of both Amazon and Microsoft. The new routes come as US carriers report competitive pressure in the US-China market. <br/>