Hong Kong Airlines started daily service last week at YVR
Competition heats up on Vancouver-Hong Kong route
Airlines seek edge with ultra-modern planes, seat configurations, self-serve bars
By Glen Korstrom | June 30, 2017, 11 a.m.
Hong Kong Airlines landed its first flight to North America at Vancouver International Airport after 10 a.m. on June 30 | Vancouver Airport Authority
With more competition on the Vancouver-to-Hong Kong route than ever before, airlines are selecting ultra-modern aircraft and using innovative configurations to lure travellers.
Hong Kong Airlines launched daily non-stop flights between Vancouver and the Chinese special administrative region on June 30. This follows Cathay Pacific upping its number of flights on that route to 17 per week from 14 as of March 28.
Air Canada, the third competitor on this route, has daily flights.
The competition has boosted the number of flights per week on the route by 48% – to 31, compared with the 21 flights offered last summer.
Indeed, flights between Vancouver and the greater Chinese region, including Taipei and mainland China have been rapidly increasing as BIV reported earlier this year.
By July 25, there are scheduled to be 10 airlines operating a total of 104 weekly non-stop flights between Vancouver and those destinations.
Stiffer competition has forced airlines to differentiate their offerings and that is happening on the Vancouver–Hong Kong route.
Cathay Pacific’s strategy has been to use Airbus A350s on the airline’s three new weekly flights. Those planes, making their Vancouver debut, are Airbus’ equivalent of Boeing’s Dreamliner 787s, with both being the most advanced commercial aircraft available.
Not only do both models of aircraft fly faster and higher and offer better fuel efficiency, they also can provide a cabin humidity that makes passengers feel as though the plane were flying much lower – something that reduces jet lag.
“[Airbus A350 planes] are made from a composite material, rather than aluminum, which means that it is lighter,” Cathay Pacific’s senior vice-president for the Americas, Philippe Lacamp, told Business in Vancouver.
“The planes also have reduced emissions.”
While Hong Kong Airlines has some Airbus A350s on order, it plans to use a different class of Airbus plane – A330-200s – on the Vancouver route. The planes are relatively new but not as technologically advanced as the A350 series.
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(Image: The business class cabin on planes that Hong Kong Airlines flies between Hong Kong and Vancouver have self-serve bars that include beer, wine and spirits | Hong Kong Airlines)
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https://www.biv.com/article/2017/6/competition-heats-vancouver-hong-kong-route/
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