Cathay Pacific set to announce direct flights to Cape Town

Cathay Pacific is poised to announce non-stop flights from Hong Kong to Cape Town, as it looks to fight back at cutthroat competition from mainland Chinese carriers. A year-round service to launch later this year will be announced soon, two people familiar with the plans said, cementing 2018 as one of the airline’s biggest years of expansion, pending approval from authorities. Despite South Africa’s second-largest city having a robust regional economy as a major shipping port for trade, its historic landmarks make it popular for tourism. The flights to Hong Kong will be its first non-stop service to Asia in more than six years. For now, no mainland Chinese carrier flies to the South African city. Competition from the state-run Air China, China Eastern, China Southern Airlines, some of the largest airlines in the world, and privately held Hainan Airlines have been a thorn in Cathay Pacific’s side in the past couple of years. Mainland Chinese airlines have gone head to head with Cathay Pacific, including offering significantly cheaper fares to the same destinations. A non-stop flight from Hong Kong would take around 14 hours. Singapore Airlines flies to and from Cape Town, stopping in Johannesburg first, in a flight lasting 13 hours 55 minutes. It is the only Asian carrier with a flight to that destination at all.<br/>