The Cathay Pacific Group, including Dragonair and Air Hong Kong, now operates more than 150 aircraft to some 130 destinations across the globe. We are committed to growing our operation to help strengthen Hong Kong’s role as one of the premier international aviation hubs. The Cathay Pacific fleet is being significantly modernised with a total of 30 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft set to arrive by 2012. These will form the backbone of the airline’s ultra-long-haul passenger fleet, bringing significant benefits in terms of fuel efficiency – a top priority in this era of high fuel prices.
We are also upgrading our inflight product, with new cabin designs being introduced on the entire medium- and long-haul fleet. The new cabins are, uniquely, being fitted in First, Business and Economy Class at the same time, and are taking the travel experience to new highs. We are also committed to strengthening Hong Kong’s role as an airfreight hub, and are now in the process of building the new Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal which will open in mid-2011. This HK$4.8 billion facility will add an additional air cargo throughput of 2.6 million tonnes a year and will be open to all cargo carriers using the airport.
At the same time we are enhancing our own freighter fleet with six new Boeing 747-400 “Extended Range Freighters” in the process of being delivered and 10 new-generation Boeing 747-8F freighters arriving between 2009 and 2012. These newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft will enable us to offer an even higher level of service to its cargo customers.
We are constantly striving to strengthen our network and in early 2008 we considerably strengthened our services to India, adding 20 more flights each week and a new destination, Chennai. With our own strong international network and Dragonair’s superb connections in the Mainland we have opened up new travel possibilities and reinforced Hong Kong’s position as a gateway to China and a hub for the world to envy.
