Hong Kong – Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong’s flagship carrier, has announced plans to expand service between Tel Aviv and Hong Kong in early 2018, the Globes business daily reported Monday.
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Cathay Pacific Israel manager Jonathan Bailey told the paper that the route has exceeded expectations since the airline began operating four weekly flights last March, especially in business class. The carrier was particularly surprised by the strong demand for business class seats, which justified moving to a daily offering.
The announcement is the latest mark in a year of growth to-and-from Israel. Earlier this month, Chile-based LATAM Airlines, the largest carrier in Latin America, announced it would begin offering three flights a week between the Chilean capital of Santiago and Tel Aviv, with a stopover in São Paulo, Brazil. The route will be the first direct service between Israel and South America since El Al discontinued service between Israel and São Paulo in 2011.
Other airlines to begin or expand service to Israel during 2017 include Scandinavian carrier SAS, which now offers a weekly flight from Stockholm to Eilat during the winter season of 2017-2018, China’s Hainan Airlines (Tel Aviv-Beijing), Air India (Tel Aviv – Delhi with a stopover in Mumbai) and a host of low-cost European airlines.
The announcement also followed news earlier this month that for the first time, more than 3 million tourists have entered the country so far in 2017
So many take-out orders? Wow!