In 2017, Hong Kong Airlines began flying to the U.S., which was an exciting development. At the time American Airlines hadn’t started flying between Hong Kong and Los Angeles yet, so Cathay Pacific more or less had a monopoly on that route. Cathay Pacific also had a joint venture with Air Canada, so Hong Kong Airlines gave them some competition.
Unfortunately amidst Hong Kong’s deepest recession in a long time, Hong Kong Airlines has announced that they will no longer fly to the U.S. as of February 8, 2020.
Specifically, Hong Kong Airlines will be cutting their Hong Kong to Los Angeles route (their San Francisco route has already been cut). Hong Kong Airlines operated brand new A350s between Hong Kong and Los Angeles, with a nice product in both business and economy class. This announcement represents the elimination of a rather nice product between Hong Kong and Los Angeles.
This is bad news for consumers as a competitor in the U.S. market will be cut. However, since Hong Kong Airlines wasn’t part of an alliance and relied on cheaper fares, it’s unlikely for any loyalists to be disappointed by the change. Those consumers who take the biggest hit are people who rely on cheap fares to fly between Hong Kong and the U.S..
In addition, Hong Kong Airlines will be reducing service to Vancouver, Osaka, Okinawa, Sapporo, Tokyo Narita, Seoul, Haikou, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Bangkok under “government imposed measures”.
Hong Kong Airlines Airbus A350 Business Class Cabin
This comes less than a month after Hong Kong Airlines eliminated their San Francisco route. The Hong Kong to San Francisco route was more competitive, as United and Singapore Airlines also operate flights between Hong Kong and San Francisco. However, their newly announced axing of their Los Angeles route leaves it as a OneWorld monopoly shared between Cathay Pacific and American Airlines.
Bottom Line
It’s sad to see the airline industry being hit so hard by Hong Kong’s civil unrest, though unfortunately life goes on for both Cathay Pacific and Hong Kong Airlines. Presumably this leaves many stray A350s lying around, as Hong Kong Airlines has quite a few on offer – which means you’ll probably see A350s deployed on many more of Hong Kong Airlines’ shorthaul routes.
Anyone affected by this change?