Cathay Pacific will continue “to look for new opportunities” in the U.S., Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau told AirlineGeeks.
On Thursday, the carrier launched its newest route from Hong Kong to Dallas/Fort Worth. At 8,120 miles, the service is Cathay Pacific’s longest by distance.
“But I think the immediate target I gave to my team is [to] make sure that the DFW flight is a success,” Lau said during an interview on Wednesday. “And if possible, step it up to a daily flight as soon as possible because I think we need a good daily product in order to achieve all the connections.”
American served this route until 2020 before pulling out due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, Cathay hopes to feed connections at American’s Dallas/Fort Worth hub.
“Dallas, obviously, is a very good candidate. … [W]e want to not just connect between Dallas and Hong Kong, but also beyond Dallas to other parts of the Americas,” Lau added. “So I think here with American Airlines as our partner, I think it’s great that we can use Dallas as a hub in a way also to expand our other opportunities.”
Several oneworld Alliance members have added service to Dallas/Fort Worth in recent years, including Fiji Airways and Iberia.
More Service on the Horizon
Despite economic slowdowns in the U.S., Lau says demand for Asian destinations remains strong. “We continue to see very good potential in the U.S. market, and of course, we want to expand our network as well,” she shared.
In addition to Dallas/Fort Worth, Cathay Pacific serves Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Boston in the U.S.
“Our U.S. flights had been performing really well in the past couple of years with very strong load factors. Even currently, Easter has just passed. I think the flights are still pretty full,” Lau continued. “And looking at summer bookings, we are still seeing very strong demand.”
Between 2018 and 2020, the airline also served Washington Dulles, along with Seattle, where service began in 2019. Both these routes were axed due to the pandemic.
“On top of our current network, we back then had Washington and Seattle for a very short period. Going forward … now that we already have a pretty solid foundation in our core U.S. ports, yes. I think we’ll continue to look for new opportunities.”
“Beyond DFW … we’ll also be looking at other opportunities within the U.S.,” she added.
The ‘White Lotus’ Effect
HBO’s hit show “The White Lotus” aired its latest season last month, which took place in Thailand. This has prompted some interest from U.S. consumers, Lau said.
“I think a lot of U.S. people still want to travel somewhere for the holidays, and I think Asia is a very good choice. I heard from my team actually. There’s this HBO series ‘The White Lotus,’” she shared. “… So I guess that will also attract more people wanting to go to Asia, experience all these hot destinations as well.”
Leadership at United had similar comments about the series’ impact on travel to Thailand, with the airline recently announcing service to Bangkok.
