Cathay Pacific plans more flights to India

Following the conclusion of air services agreement between India and Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways plans to increase its flights to various Indian cities.

It plans to connect Hong Kong with Chennai from June 3 with four-times a week service. Its wholly owned subsidiary airline Dragonair will start a daily service from Hong Kong to Bangalore in May. "The flights being added by Cathay Pacific and Indian carriers between the two countries will help in exploiting the potential of trade and tourism between the two nations," Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler told reporters.

He also said that the 22,000 tonnes of freight carried by his airline in the Indian market last year would go up significantly this year with the increase in its operations. The airline currently operates 22 freighter services to the Indian market. Cathay Pacific recently increased the number of flights from Hong Kong to Delhi to 14 times a week from 4 flights a week earlier. It also took the number of flights to Mumbai from Hong Kong to 10 from 4 flights per week.

Describing Hong Kong as a "superb hub" for onward flight services, Tyler said the situation had now improved "drastically" with both Cathay and Indian carriers like Jet Airways enhancing their services. Asked how he would look at competition from Jet Airways, the Cathay chief said, " Both of us will have a good ding-dong. But the increasing traffic will imply success for both Jet and Cathay. It will be a win-win situation for both Hong Kong and Indian carriers including the customers."