Cathay Pacific, a Hong Kong-based airline offering scheduled passenger and cargo services, will be starting its four-day-a-week Hyderabad to Hong Kong service from December.
With this, the airline will be connecting to six cities in India, including Kolkata that will be connected by its sister airline Dragonair from November. The Hyderabad service, operated by Airbus A330-300 aircraft, will facilitate passengers to access the airline’s 167 destinations in 42 countries and territories.
“The Hyderabad service will take our weekly flights from India to 46, from the earlier 35. We will be looking at new destinations in India as demand picks up,” Tom Wright, general manager (South Asia, West Asia and Africa), Cathay Pacific, told mediapersons here on Thursday.
Cathay is one of the new international airlines that will be taking off from Hyderabad in the second half of the current financial year. According to Vikram Jaisinghani, chief executive officer of GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), while Tiger Airways will be coming out with five frequencies to Singapore from September, ThaiSmile will fly from Hyderabad with seven frequencies.
“Indigo has started its Hyderabad-Dubai flight this month and SilkAir is upgrading from five frequencies to nine. We are seeing some strong connections coming in with more airlines planning to operate in the second half of this year. That should take the passenger traffic growth from the Hyderabad airport to 7-8 per cent over last year,” he said.
At present, five domestic airlines operate from Hyderabad to 32 destinations, while 11 international carriers run services to 16 destinations. Last year, the airport grew 13 per cent to 8.6 million passengers, besides handling 85,000 tonne cargo.
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“There is some concern on the domestic front and we would be ending the year with almost the same traffic levels as last year. This year, international traffic is holding out. Last year, our domestic and international passenger ratio was 75:25. This time, this will be loaded in favour of international traffic with the ratio expected to be 70:30,” Jaisinghani said, adding the growth in cargo was virtually following the passenger way this year.
Replying to a query, Wright said airport charges in India, especially those in New Delhi, were a matter of concern for all airlines including Cathay Pacific. Airport costs play a significant role in the profitability of any airline, he said, adding Cathay, however, was ‘comfortable’ with the charges at the Hyderabad airport.