Cathay's Return to Manchester. (

Erm…the service is not direct Cathay 😉

It is, its just a one stop direct service. Most airlines use the term “direct” if it means you dont have to change planes.

And the blurb I’ve seen on releases today suggests they are still seeking final permission to come to MAN!

Cathay Pacific will be the only airline to offer a direct passenger service to Manchester from Hong Kong.

Erm…the service is not direct Cathay 😉

Its official Now, Here is the press release from Cathay pacific’s website http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/aboutcx/press/0,,31342-132404,00.html

06 December 2005

Cathay Pacific announces service to Moscow and Manchester

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced it will, pending final government approvals, make history again as the first Hong Kong airline flying to Russia with the launch of a three-times-weekly service to Moscow, starting 27 March 2006.

From Moscow, Cathay Pacific’s service will continue onwards to Manchester, England. Cathay Pacific will be the only airline to offer a direct passenger service to Manchester from Hong Kong.

The announcement came a week after the airline placed its biggest ever order for new aircraft in order to add flights and new destinations.

The Moscow service will extend an existing codeshare agreement with Aeroflot – Russian Airlines, while the Manchester service marks a resumption of Cathay Pacific passenger flights to the city, which traditionally has strong ties with Hong Kong. The route will be operated with an Airbus A340-300.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Philip Chen said: “Cathay Pacific’s new Moscow and Manchester service adds yet another spoke to the Hong Kong hub. It strengthens the city’s ties to Europe and reinforces its position as the gateway to the Chinese Mainland. “

Mr Chen added: “Moscow is an exciting destination and our new service will offer Hong Kong passengers more choices and greater travel convenience to this great capital. With three new services to Manchester, we will operate an unmatched 31 flights every week from Hong Kong to the UK.”

Both the Moscow and Manchester services are expected to generate new hub traffic to and from Australia, New Zealand and around the region. Hong Kong’s gateway position will appeal to Russian businesses forging closer trade ties within the Pearl River Delta.

Cathay Pacific has operated codeshare flights to Moscow with Aeroflot since June 2004. Aeroflot currently operates the service with Boeing 767 aircraft. All services operated by both airlines will carry Aeroflot’s “SU” and Cathay Pacific’s “CX” prefixes.

Cathay Pacific last week announced its biggest ever order for new aircraft to grow its fleet and network. The airline made commitments for 16 advanced wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with purchase rights for 20 more. It also made commitments to acquire three Airbus A330-300s to operate regional routes.

Cathay Pacific currently operates 54 passenger services to five cities in Europe each week. It operates four flights a day to London, plus daily services to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris, and five weekly flights to Rome. The airline serves 92 destinations world-wide.

Full schedule

Schedule of Cathay Pacific operated services

Flight number
From Destination Departure/Arrival (Local Time) Days of operations
CX237 Hong Kong Moscow 00:15 / 06:25 Mon, Thu, Sat
CX237 Moscow Manchester 07:50 / 08:55 Mon, Thu, Sat
CX236 Manchester Moscow 10:00 / 16:55 Mon, Thu, Sat
CX236 Moscow Hong Kong 18:40 / 08:10 +1 Mon, Thu, Sat

Brill Excellent news !

Jon

FANTASTIC! Yet another exciting visitor to Manchester.

And its on Amadeus

Cathay Pacific
CX 236 Manchester Int’l (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom 10:00
Hong Kong Int’l (HKG), Hong Kong, Hongkong 08:10+1 day(s)
1 stop(s)
343 15h10min Monday
Thursday

Cathay Pacific
CX 237 Hong Kong Int’l (HKG), Hong Kong, Hongkong 00:15
Manchester Int’l (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom 08:55
1 stop(s)
343 15h40min Monday
Thursday
Not flying the Thursday, March 23, 2006

Well it looks like i was right to post this thread afterall. The sorce off this thread looks to be right, even though it came from pprune.

Note below (As LBA rules says my comments are tongue in cheek)

Future Pilot Yes it has been doing the rounds for bloody ages – no point in mentioning it ever again unless it happens

Where exactly?

LBARULES
The ever trustworthy (ahem), Pprune, LBAspotter gets most of his 100% reliable stuff (Such as Jet2 starting up at HUY!) off there.

Notice my comments are tongue in cheek .

Will be great if Cathay do come back to MAN all the same.

And its on Amadeus :D:D

Cathay Pacific
CX 236 Manchester Int’l (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom 10:00
Hong Kong Int’l (HKG), Hong Kong, Hongkong 08:10+1 day(s)
1 stop(s)
343 15h10min Monday Thursday Saturday

Cathay Pacific
CX 237 Hong Kong Int’l (HKG), Hong Kong, Hongkong 00:15
Manchester Int’l (MAN), Manchester, United Kingdom 08:55
1 stop(s)
343 15h40min Monday Thursday Saturday

I’ll be using it in September, if the prices are good!

I’m sure the enthusiasts will love a different livery to photo, but as a means of getting to Hong Kong it’s not really bringing much new. If those timings are right, looks like it’s an hour to 90 minutes *longer* than connecting through London or Frankfurt and comes with the dubious pleasure of being stuck on the ground in Moscow – maybe even stuck on the plane if they won’t let you disembark. And only 3 days a week. Sorry Cathy – you won’t be winning our business.

The route is mainly targeting Hong Kong/ Moscow vv and Moscow/Manchester vv, and some pax who want to travel onwards to Honkers. Otherwise we would have gone direct. :confused:

Firstly when starting a new route sometime you are granted only a handful of slots due to some open skies type of agreements (Governments) e.g We have been operating to Rome for years and years but it’s only now we have had the green light to operate a daily service rather than 5 times a week.
Also it can be used as a trial and if the loads are good then extra sectors are added.

Oh and it’s spelt CATHAY.

Cheers 😉

I’m sure the enthusiasts will love a different livery to photo, but as a means of getting to Hong Kong it’s not really bringing much new. If those timings are right, looks like it’s an hour to 90 minutes *longer* than connecting through London or Frankfurt and comes with the dubious pleasure of being stuck on the ground in Moscow – maybe even stuck on the plane if they won’t let you disembark. And only 3 days a week. Sorry Cathy – you won’t be winning our business.

I do hope it will happen, i loved seeing Cathay’s 744’s @ MAN over the years (tho an A343 will be used) also i’d might use it for next September, when i’ll go back to Hong Kong 🙂

We’ll wait till a press release comes out 😉

From our CEO.

Of course, with a big expansion in the fleet we have to mount more services to key destinations as well as find new places to serve. In that respect I am pleased to say that next week we will make an announcement on the long-awaited launch of our Moscow service.

We will run a three-times-a-week service from next summer, with a tag to Manchester. The timing of the flight will match other key long-haul services with a departure from Hong Kong after midnight. Our teams are already working hard to set up operations in both cities.
😉 😉

This route is going ahead.

We’ll wait till a press release comes out 😉

This route is going ahead.

Are you referring to “The Man From Atlanta”, David? 😉

Having now seen who’s contrbuted to that pprune thread, all I can say is “roll on next week!”.

CX have held slots and rights for this route for quite a while now, and haven’t used them. They probably show up in the slot bids again, just as they have repeatedly, so if they’re not launching then somebody has probably mistaken the slot bids with a guarantee of a service, and of course they have appled for summer slots so that means end of march. Airlines can do this without having to launch a service though.

Just looked on the CX website and put in for a MAN-HKG departing on Thursday 6th April. The options were splendiforus: shuttle to LHR and non-stop ex LHR! No sign of a MAN-SVO-HKG routing.

Now what would be interesting would be if BA decided to codeshare the service…

Notice my comments are tongue in cheek :D.

I never would of guessed!? :rolleyes: :p :dev2:

Yes it has been doing the rounds for bloody ages – no point in mentioning it ever again unless it happens! :rolleyes:

Where exactly?

The ever trustworthy (ahem), Pprune, LBAspotter gets most of his 100% reliable stuff (Such as Jet2 starting up at HUY!) off there.

Notice my comments are tongue in cheek :D.

Will be great if Cathay do come back to MAN all the same.