Hong Kong Airlines Is Making Their North America Debut In 2017

Published: November 28, 2016

Hong Kong Airlines is the second largest airline based in Hong Kong, after Cathay Pacific (and their Cathay Dragon subsidiary), which is no doubt most well known around the world. Hong Kong Airlines has a fleet of 34 Airbus A320 and Airbus A330 aircraft, with another 24 widebodies on order, including nine A330s and 15 A350s.

What fascinates me about Hong Kong Airlines is that they seem to have a really solid business class product on their A330s, despite the fact that these planes are largely used for short-haul flights around Asia. Their A330 business class is in a staggered configuration, with fully flat seats and direct aisle access from every seat.

hong-kong-airlines-business-class

While Hong Kong Airlines isn’t part of one of the big global alliances, they do have very attractive business class fares, a few of which are shown below (1USD=7.76HKD).

hong-kong-airlines-business-class-fares

Anyway, up until now the furthest Hong Kong Airlines has flown is New Zealand, as you can see based on their below routemap.

16000_Worldmap_codeShare_08Aug

Well, the good news is that Hong Kong Airlines is finally expanding to North America.

Hong Kong Airlines has announced that they plan on introducing daily flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver as of June 30, 2017. The flight will operate with the following schedule, per @airlineroute:

HX80 Hong Kong to Vancouver departing 12:30PM arriving 10:10AM
HX81 Vancouver to Hong Kong departing 12:10PM arriving 4:50PM (+1 day)

While the schedule has been loaded, Hong Kong Airlines hasn’t yet opened up inventory, so we don’t know what the pricing will look like. I suspect their business class pricing will be very reasonable, in particular in comparison to Air Canada and Cathay Pacific, which presently dominate the market.

I’m excited to see Hong Kong Airlines adding transpacific flights. I suspect once they take delivery of the A350, we’ll see them add several more transpacific flights, probably even to the US. Bring it on!

I’ll be keeping a close eye on pricing once these flights are for sale.

Has anyone flown Hong Kong Airlines before, and if so, how was your experience?

More discussion »

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Colin W Guest

November 29, 2016, 4:48 pm

Cathay Pacific announced on September 1, 2016 that they would add 3 EXTRA flights per week between HKG and YVR, beginning on March 28, 2017. The new addition will bring CX's non-stop flights between HKG and YVR to 17 per week. The brand new A350-900 aircraft will be used on these new flights, whereas the B777-300 ER are operated in the existing double daily flights. I heard rumours back in early summer this year that Hong Kong Airlines would start flying between HKG and YVR in 2017; then on November 28, the announcement was made. The DAILY non stop flight will start on June 30, 2017 and the new A350-900 aircraft (HX is still waiting for its delivery) will also be used. CX's announcement was made almost exactly 3 months priort to HX's announcement; and CX will start the new flights almost 3 months before HX does. These are not just coincidences...CX is fighting hard to maintain the market share of this very busy and lucrative route.

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Stéphane New Member

November 29, 2016, 2:49 pm

I flew Hong Kong Airlines several times in economy and business. Prices for both classes are normally so low, you are wondering where's the catch as there are no "hidden" fees for luggage and/or food. Yes, they operate some red eye flights from HKG to BKK. I understand why those are cheap but they have some day flights as well. Business class very good and the lounge in HKG is very decent. One big negative is that when there are air traffic control disruptions in China, this will have an impact on there entire operation throughout Asia, so yes, they are notorious for delays (and sometimes cancellations). In the event of cancellation, I have experienced that there service is mediocre at best. All in all, good value for money. Can't wait to see how their pricing for HKG-Vancouver is going to be.

MB Member

November 29, 2016, 11:43 am

I've always been discouraged by their record of delays and cancellations to even bother

Tai Guest

November 29, 2016, 5:36 am

Great news, YVR HKG needs more competition. Redeeming J is basically impossible, even with Asia Miles booking 1 year ahead.

flyingfish Guest

November 29, 2016, 2:11 am

What I cannot understand is why they do not even fly to SIN! HKG is a great connection point from South East Asia to North Asia, and SIN is an important market in South East Asia. Shouldn't they target SIN before their long hauls expansion? Anyone here knows why HX has not expanded to SIN?

Hong Kong Airlines Is Making Their North America Debut In 2017

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