Hong Kong Airlines Expand Further into Asia

Hong Kong Airlines has announced its plans to add an extra two routes to its schedule in both China and Japan.

The airline plans to expand its services to include a thrice weekly rotation between Hong Kong and Yancheng, in the Northeastern Jiangsu province, China. The two hour ten minute flight will be operated by the airline’s Airbus A320 aircraft, and will operate on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from March 31, 2015.

The airline will operate the route on Fridays from Hong Kong at 10:55am, to arrive into Yancheng at 13:50pm. On Sundays, the airline will depart Hong Kong at 11:35am, to arrive into China at 14:30pm. Finally, Hong Kong Airlines will depart at 13:00pm on Tuesdays, arriving into Yancheng at 15:55pm.

On both Fridays and Sundays, the return journey will operate out of Yancheng at 17:05pm, arriving into Hong Kong at 20:00pm. On Tuesdays, the airline will operate out of China at 16:55pm, arriving into Hong Kong at 19:50pm.

Hong Kong Airlines also plan to introduce a twice weekly service to Miyazaki in Japan, also onboard Airbus A320 aircraft, from March 28. 2015.

This route will operate on Wednesday and Saturday, departing Hong Kong at 10:00am and arriving into Miyazaki at 14:20pm. The return service will depart Japan at 15:30, to arrive into Hong Kong at 17:50pm.

You can learn more about the plans of Hong Kong Airlines at this year's Routes Asia in Kunming, Yunnan, China between March 15-17, 2015. The airline's Michael Burke, Assistant Director, Commercial, Hong Kong Airlines will be on a panel session entitled ‘Capturing the China Market' during the Routes Asia Strategy Summit

The airline has recently launched a codeshare partnership with Etihad Airways to allow passengers to benefit from better connectivity in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Hong Kong Airlines currently operates two routes for Etihad, including flights between Hong Kong and both Bangkok and Okinawa.

Etihad currently operates triple-daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Bangkok, with a Hong Kong Airlines code, and will soon begin flights between Abu Dhabi and Madrid from March 29, 2015, and Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong from June 15, 2015 – both with Hong Kong Airlines’ ‘HX’ code.

Meanwhile, it appears that the airline has delayed its initial public offering (IPO), after the six-month deadline to launch the IPO passed at the start of the month without formal approval from the Hong Kong stock exchange's listing committee.

The airline had filed the paperwork for the offering in September last year in the hope of riasing about $600 million to support its fleet development.

The IPO was due to provide shares in both Chinese yuan and Hong Kong dollars, the first time a dual currency listing was to take place on the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Poppy Marello

Poppy joined the Routesonline team after successfully completing a degree in journalism at Sheffield Hallam University. Poppy has a passion for…