Seven-day Asia-Cairns flights
THE Far North's tourism gateway to Asia and Europe will now operate seven days a week, providing a continual link with markets in Europe and Asia.
Carrier Cathay Pacific announced an additional flight between Hong Kong and Cairns each Monday, taking its operation to seven days a week.
The move will add another 26,000 seats a year and has been hailed as a milestone by the tourism industry, providing certainty and continuity in providing daily flights from Hong Kong, which links with important markets in Europe, India and China.
Cairns Airport general manager of aviation business development Robert Evans said daily flights to the Asian city from Cairns was a first.
"We are very excited and to have just that one extra service a week to Hong Kong, it’s a huge development," he said.
"We will again be able to tap in to the UK and Europe travelling market and also the Chinese.
"Just in June, we had 680 Chinese arrivals compared to 250 that same time last year."
Cathay Pacific has more than 5 per cent of the airline market to and from Australia.
The Hong Kong-based airline currently offers 3200 seats six days a week on the flights in and out of Cairns.
The announcement comes after a string of aviation boosts for Cairns, including the reinstatement of direct Cairns-Osaka services, two new operators coming onto the Cairns-Auckland route and QantasLink’s direct flights to Port Moresby.
Airport CEO Stephen Gregg said the Cathay Pacific upgrade was an "important milestone."
"These are important tourism source markets for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef region with huge potential for growth," Mr Gregg said.
"There is also increasing demand for outbound flights to China."
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