Cathay Pacific marks 40 years in NZ - what’s the future?

Cathay Pacific today marks 40 years of connecting Auckland with Hong Kong and is slowly rebuilding links between the two cities.

At its pre-pandemic peak the airline had 14 flights a week into Auckland and four to Christchurch. It is now operating just three weekly flights into Auckland but this may soon increase as part of a global expansion.

Cathay - with no domestic market - was especially hard-hit by the pandemic but figures for March this year show capacity reached 50 per cent across the group.

Passenger load factors surpassed 90 per cent, reflecting the ongoing strong demand for travel.

In March the airline reported an annual operating profit for the first time since 2019 after Hong Kong opened for quarantine-free travel again following more than two years of strict Covid restrictions.

Operating profit in 2022 was HK$3.55 billion ($714m) on revenue that grew 12 per cent to HK$51.04b.

Dennis Basten, area cargo manager and country lead in New Zealand said the airline was using an Airbus A350-1000 on the Auckland route and would rebuild flights here cautiously. However, he hoped there would be good news about expansion soon.

A Cathay Pacific A350-1000 at the Airbus delivery centre in Toulouse. Photo / Grant Bradley

In 1983 a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747-200 aircraft touched down in Auckland for the first time, marking the airline’s inaugural commercial flight to New Zealand. The then state-of-the-art aircraft, fitted with 35 First Class, 36 Business Class and 337 Economy Class seats, helped to connect millions of Kiwis to the rest of the world.

Ticket prices were regulated by the government and, as with all airlines, you could smoke onboard.

The cost of a round-trip ticket between Auckland and Hong Kong was about $970, the equivalent of just over $2601 at today’s prices.

Captain Ian Steven, a New Zealander, was at the controls of the plane wearing the old green and white “lettuce leaf” livery on its tail.

As part of the tripartite arrangement, Air New Zealand operated the route for six months, with Cathay Pacific operating the next period, followed by Air Niugini.

The flight had a brief stopover in Port Moresby, but passengers stayed on board as the transit lounge at the airport was not large enough to handle all of them.

The joint venture lasted for eight years although Air New Zealand and Cathay are back working together in a new code-sharing agreement between Auckland and Hong Kong.

Cathay went on to pick up Air New Zealand’s loss-making Hong Kong-London route.

Dominic Perret, Cathay Pacific’s regional general manager for Southeast Asia & Southwest Pacific, welcomed four decades of flying and reiterated the airline’s commitment to New Zealand.

“This is a significant milestone for us. New Zealand is a market that has played an integral role in our history and remains as important as ever,” says Perret.

“We’re grateful to the many passengers who have flown with us over the past 40 years and for the fantastic working relationship we have with our joint alliance partner, Air New Zealand. Long may it continue.”

Apart from a brief pause when crew quarantine requirements in Hong Kong became very restrictive, Cathay maintained services to New Zealand throughout the pandemic including some special freight flights. Belly cargo aboard the A350 was also important.

As of December 2022, the airline has a fleet of 181 aircraft including its new Airbus A321neos and Airbus A350s, with new Boeing 777-9s due to enter service from the middle of this decade.

While Cathay Pacific gears up for more flying to New Zealand, Auckland Airport says it is not only returning to pre-pandemic levels but expecting to surpass them on North American routes.

Next summer there will be seven airlines flying non-stop from Auckland to eight destinations in North America, with four airlines running direct flights from Los Angeles during the summer season.

Qatar Airways will resume non-stop flights between Auckland and Doha in September (skipping the Adelaide stopover) and from mid-June there will be 27 flights a week to mainland China as five airlines serving the country rebuild their networks.