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Posted Oct 17, 2014, 3:42 AM
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BANNED
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Lower Mount Royal, Calgary
Posts: 5,147
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Article to the link above - now that's what I'm talking about! I'm expecting more of this as the new terminal nears completion.
Quote:
Cathay Pacific exec says airline eyeing Calgary as possible 2016 destination
CALGARY, AB; OCTOBER 16, 2014 -- Tom Owen, senior vice president, Americas for Cathay Pacific Airways poses for a photo at the Fairmont Palliser in...more
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BY AMANDA STEPHENSON, CALGARY HERALD OCTOBER 16, 2014
The prospect of a second non-stop flight between Calgary and Asia was dangled before local business groups Thursday by a senior executive with Cathay Pacific.
But it won’t happen until at least 2016.
Tom Owen, Cathay Pacific’s senior vice-president for the Americas, told a crowd of business leaders at a luncheon event that Calgary is too small a market to serve with the Hong Kong-based airline’s existing fleet of Boeing 777-300s. But he said when Cathay Pacific takes delivery of its new, smaller Airbus 350s in 2016, “long, lean” routes like Calgary to Hong Kong could become economical for the first time.
“It will open up a world of opportunity for Cathay Pacific. So watch this space, but nothing until after 2016,” Owen said.
Owen is in Calgary this week to celebrate the launch of dedicated, twice-weekly Cathay Pacific air cargo freighter service from Calgary to Hong Kong. It is the airline’s first Alberta service, and marks the first time in six years that Calgary will have a direct air freighter link with Asia. (Calgary had a direct Asian link to Seoul, South Korea until 2008, but that service was cancelled by operator Asiana during the global recession.)
Cathay Pacific’s only Canadian passenger services are non-stop flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver, Hong Kong and Toronto, and Vancouver and New York-JFK.
Speaking to the Herald following his speech, Owen confirmed that Calgary is indeed on his airline’s radar screen.
“We have a list of destinations that we look at on a regular basis, assessing market size, market opportunity and growth potential. Calgary is on that list,” he said.
He emphasized there are other North American destinations Cathay Pacific is looking at as well, but reiterated that the arrival of a smaller aircraft type in 2016 would make a Calgary-Hong Kong route much more attractive.
“I think this market may become more viable for us to look at,” Owen said.
Owen’s comments were met with spontaneous applause by the crowd, which included members of the Hong Kong-Canada Business Association, the Calgary Airport Authority, and Calgary Economic Development. Business groups and tourism operators have long been clamouring for a second direct air link between Calgary and the lucrative Asian market. Right now, Air Canada’s service to Tokyo, Japan remains the only available non-stop option, though Air Canada has publicly mused about a possible Calgary-Beijing connection.
Calgary Economic Development CEO Bruce Graham — who has been working closely with the Calgary Airport Authority in an effort to secure another Asian link for air passengers — said the Cathay Pacific executive’s comments caught him off guard, but were very welcome.
“It was news to me as well,” he said. “The fact that Tom mentioned specific dates, and aligned it with an aircraft that’s on order, is really encouraging. I think it’s incumbent on us to demonstrate what we can do with this cargo service, and build off of that to build a passenger service — which, quite frankly, could be a real winner.”
There is already a significant amount of business travel back and forth between Calgary and China, in large part because of Calgary’s oil and gas economy and Chinese investment in it. China is Alberta’s second largest trading partner, and Alberta’s trading relationship with China has more than tripled since 2003.
According to the Government of Alberta, from 2009 to 2013, Alberta’s annual exports to China averaged $3.13 billion. Hong Kong is also Canada’s third largest export market for beef, Alberta’s signature agricultural product.
“Quite frankly, the Asia-Pacific markets are going to be key to our energy future, our agricultural future, and increasingly, the engagement of our human capital. The best and the brightest people from here are going to be working there and vice versa,” Graham said.
Cathay Pacific’s cargo air service, using the Boeing 747-8 commercial freighter, will launch Saturday with its inaugural flight to Calgary International Airport. It will operate twice-weekly, and will fly everything from large machinery to time-sensitive perishable goods.
Calgary will be the 14th freighter destination in Cathay Pacific’s cargo network, and the third Canadian freighter destination after Toronto and Vancouver.
Owen said Cathay Pacific has been in talks with the Calgary Airport Authority for at least three years about this service, and believes the market is strong enough to make the service a success.
“Now is the time, because we believe the market in Alberta has been growing fast enough, and it’s got enough potential with Asia and China,” he said. “From our perspective, the Americas is where the future is for our freighter business.”
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