Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - 2nd SFO Flight Schedule Released (Tentatively or Real??)

Don't know how accurate or reliable the source is:
http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/2007/07/cathay-boosts-sfo-frequencies.html

But from the link shows the 2nd SFO flight numbers and schedules for the upcoming winter schedule. Bolded are the new flights:

CX870 HKG-SFO 1410/1005 744
CX872 HKG-SFO 1630/1225 744

CX873 SFO-HKG 0010/0655+1 744
CX879 SFO-HKG 1205/1855+1 744

Interestingly the new flights will also be operated by the 744s. Does CX really have enough 744s to operate double daily on SFO?

Real. It is loaded in the GDS.

Starting 18 Oct 2007?

I checked the CX site, schedule is loaded already and flights are being sold. Yes starting Oct 18.

This is the schedule during daylight savings time:

CX870 HKG-SFO 1410/1135 744
CX872 HKG-SFO 1625/1350 744

CX873 SFO-HKG 0120/0625+1 744
CX879 SFO-HKG 1335/1840+1 744

CX879 SFO-HKG 1335/1840+1 744
A couple questions on the new daytime ex-SFO departure:

1) What type of meals will be served (i.e. lunch/dinner/breakfast/brunch)?
2) Will this flight mostly travel in daylight, darkness, or half & half? (would like to have an idea of what this flight will operate like)

Interestingly the new flights will also be operated by the 744s. Does CX really have enough 744s to operate double daily on SFO?

Keep in mind there are 2 second hand B744 that are still to be delivered to CX. Also, with the B77W arriving in Sept, I am sure they would change the equipment on some flights, therebyb freeing up more a/c (and B744) for delpoyment on other routes.

Midday departures USA-Asia should fly in daylight the whole way.

Ok I am not familiar with the operating hours of the BA Terrace Lounge in SFO, but with this new CX daytime departure, I'm certain there will be pax that will start going into the lounge at around 9-10 AM. Is the lounge already open during these AM hours considering that the 1st BA flight doesn't leave until mid-afternoon?

What are the odds this new additional flight has the new seats and cabin interior? Will the two incomming 747s have the new seats and interior too?

What are the odds this new additional flight has the new seats and cabin interior? Will the two incomming 747s have the new seats and interior too?

I'm afraid not. The 74As go to LHR daily and come back to do an occasional NRT run. The NA market will have to wait until the 77Ws arrive. Correct me if I'm wrong. :)

Ok I am not familiar with the operating hours of the BA Terrace Lounge in SFO, but with this new CX daytime departure, I'm certain there will be pax that will start going into the lounge at around 9-10 AM. Is the lounge already open during these AM hours considering that the 1st BA flight doesn't leave until mid-afternoon?

The midnight flight out of SFO is in the same situation. While it is the BA Terrace Lounge, it is actually operated by CX at that time - like a CX outpost lounge, with attendants in CX uniforms. The new flight should be the same.

San Francisco, Calif. - Cathay Pacific Airways, one of the world's leading passenger and cargo airlines, today announced it will soon be introducing a second daily, non-stop flight between San Francisco and Hong Kong.

Source: http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_US/aboutus/pressroomdetails?refID=169381667f2e3110VgnVCM32000 011d21c39____

Does anyone think this new SFO daytime departure will cause a significant reduction in the loads of the LAX daytime CX885? I would believe most who needs to make connections in California to catch a daytime CX flight would prefer to connect via SFO as oppose to LAX as the former has better infrastructure and overall better to deal with. I mean how many out there would pick LAX over SFO as a transit station? :rolleyes:

Does anyone think this new SFO daytime departure will cause a significant reduction in the loads of the LAX daytime CX885? I would believe most who needs to make connections in California to catch a daytime CX flight would prefer to connect via SFO as oppose to LAX as the former has better infrastructure and overall better to deal with. I mean how many out there would pick LAX over SFO as a transit station? :rolleyes:

Well I routinly pick LAX over SFO for the extra miles earned and depending in the destination JFK over both LAX and SFO ....again for the extra miles;):)

Does anyone think this new SFO daytime departure will cause a significant reduction in the loads of the LAX daytime CX885? I would believe most who needs to make connections in California to catch a daytime CX flight would prefer to connect via SFO as oppose to LAX as the former has better infrastructure and overall better to deal with. I mean how many out there would pick LAX over SFO as a transit station? :rolleyes:

Absolutely NO because LAX is an AA hub whereas SFO is quite limtied. Unless you connect onto UA, then that is different. But if you do connect on UA, you might as weel fly UA all the way.

Not necessarily an affect of the loadings caused by one another. However I do belive the daytime SFO-HKG flight will perform better than the daytime LAX-HKG by the fact that their is higher demand of O/D traffic on SFO-HKG than O/D on LAX-HKG. Hence you are seeing three carriers (and four soon when O8 enters the market) as oppose to just two on the latter. Also once the new SFO-HKG flight commences there will be more nonstop flights to HKG ex-SFO than ex-LAX.

1. Latest rumours have O8 going to Australia next. Of course, all we have on Flyer Talk are rumours and Cologne, Oakland or Chicago could be next.

2. It's interesting that the 2nd flight to SFO would be launched on 18 Oct rather than 28 Oct (the traditional schedule change). I wonder if this is due to the heavy traffic into HKG in Oct with wall-to-wall trade shows? If so, I would have thought they would start the flight around 11 Oct to take advantage of the heavy traffic. The last 2 weeks in October are almost impossible to get into HKG by air or get a hotel for any price.

3. As of today (Monday 23 Jul) this 2nd flight to SFO isn't in any CRS such as Amadeus. Maybe they will make some changes before the flight is officially for sale? I tried to book some free award seats as soon as I saw this flight posted on FlyerTalk and was very disappointed as I was told it is not for sale yet even though it shows on the CX website.

And wasn't this 2nd service going to be on the 773ER?

Personally, I would prefer CX870 leave at 2345 (instead of 1410) to give an entire day and evening in HKG and land in SFO around 2000.

Good to see CX having 9-10 dailies to North America.

3. As of today (Monday 23 Jul) this 2nd flight to SFO isn't in any CRS such as Amadeus. Maybe they will make some changes before the flight is officially for sale? I tried to book some free award seats as soon as I saw this flight posted on FlyerTalk and was very disappointed as I was told it is not for sale yet even though it shows on the CX website.
What are you talking about? Did a dummy booking on expedia, zuji, etc and the flight is on sale already. Maybe not for award, but for revenue tickets they are definately on sale.

CX has already done a press release of the flight (http://www.cathaypacific.com/cpa/en_US/aboutus/pressroomdetails?refID=169381667f2e3110VgnVCM32000 011d21c39____). Why would they do so if they are not available for sale?

Just did a dummy booking on the cx site. The flights are DEFINATELY ON SALE.

Just did a dummy booking on the cx site. The flights are DEFINATELY ON SALE.

It's strange that they have not put the flight into the CRS systems. Normally, new flights show up in CRS before the airline announces them to the public.

We have direct access to the CX reservation system in Amadeus. Someone should let CX know they aren't going to get many bookings if the flights doesn't show in CRS. I don't know about Galileo, Sabre or Worldspan, but this is what Amadeus shows as of 0700/23 Jul BKK time. (I've been checking Amadeus since this was announced on FlyerTalk on 19 Jul (4 days ago).

28OCT-SU-12M HKGSFO(HKGQSF) ** PT SC1
SFO ALTERNATE OAK SJC
1.X6 #CX 872 F A J C D I Y B HKGSFO- 430P 125P 744 DD0
EFF 28OCT DIS 02NOV
2.6 #CX 872 F A J C D I Y B HKGSFO- 430P 125P 744 DD0
EFF 03NOV DIS 03NOV
3.DLY #CX 872 F A J C D I Y B HKGSFO- 430P1225P 744 DD0
EFF 04NOV DIS 08MAR
>

Try this: http://www.publicbackup.com/shared/flyertalk/availability/

It is showing on this system.

Not necessarily an affect of the loadings caused by one another. However I do belive the daytime SFO-HKG flight will perform better than the daytime LAX-HKG by the fact that their is higher demand of O/D traffic on SFO-HKG than O/D on LAX-HKG. Hence you are seeing three carriers (and four soon when O8 enters the market) as oppose to just two on the latter. Also once the new SFO-HKG flight commences there will be more nonstop flights to HKG ex-SFO than ex-LAX.
Agreed. The demand of LA residents wanting to visit relatives in HK is just very low. Family/relative ties between LA & HK is also very low.

Personally, I would prefer CX870 leave at 2345 (instead of 1410) to give an entire day and evening in HKG and land in SFO around 2000.Yes -- I like the CX 880 to LAX (which lets me connect on to JFK and arrive the next morning). Having another option via SFO would probably be nice.
Plus, it seems like the aircraft will sit on the ground for quite some time in SFO before the late-night departure. Do they do maintenance or something?

If you are referring to the aircraft for CX870, then no. That aircraft will only sit in SFO for only 2 hours and then do the turn around back to HKG as CX879 around lunch time. The a/c that will sit extensively for the night CX873 is the one that arrives as CX872 which CX has done routinely for quite a long time already.

Interestingly if CX879 is delayed for departure (either caused by domino effect of the late incoming CX870 or for any other reasons) and CX872 arrives early from the scheduled time, we can be seeing 2 CX 744s parked at the SFO int'l terminal at the same time. Don't know if SFO has enough gates or can handle two CX 744s at the same time during that particular time frame.

Interestingly if CX879 is delayed for departure (either caused by domino effect of the late incoming CX870 or for any other reasons) and CX872 arrives early from the scheduled time, we can be seeing 2 CX 744s parked at the SFO int'l terminal at the same time. Don't know if SFO has enough gates or can handle two CX 744s at the same time during that particular time frame.

There are not that many international flights in and out of SFO at the same time. With the two concourses, there should be enough gates. I assume that passengers will be boarding the new flight at Gate A6. If so, it may affect the incoming BA flight should there be any delay, especially during summer hours.

With the two concourses, there should be enough gates.
Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe CX flights are only at concourse A and are only confined to that concourse. So even if gates are available at concourse G, they won't be relegated to that section. At SFO, I've never seen airlines assigned at concourse A (i.e. CX, BA) have their a/c's parked at the G concourse or airlines assigned at concourse G (i.e. SQ) have their a/c's parked at concourse A.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe CX flights are only at concourse A and are only confined to that concourse. So even if gates are available at concourse G, they won't be relegated to that section. At SFO, I've never seen airlines assigned at concourse A (i.e. CX, BA) have their a/c's parked at the G concourse or airlines assigned at concourse G (i.e. SQ) have their a/c's parked at concourse A.

I have always boarded CX873 in Concourse A. The BA lounge is also in Concourse A. For disembarking, I don't think that is always the case. I remembered I entered the custom area in both sides before - at least I thought I came out the other door at least twice. The airport should be able to make arrangements and move the plane around if needed.

I hope CX can park at Gate A6. Boarding is much more convenient. However, with the BA flight departing about three hours later during summer, I don't know if that can be arranged.

Of all the many times I've taken CX872, we always disembarked at concourse A. Never at G. Very interesting!

Does anyone know why CX has scheduled the new HKG-SFO flight to depart only 2 hrs 15min earlier from the current CX872? It seems rather strange that two 744s going the same route & direction will only be departing 2 hrs 15min apart from one another. :confused:

My wild guess: (i) the connecting flights on both ends, and (ii) CX tries to park the aircraft at SFO for as short as possible.

Does anyone know why CX has scheduled the new HKG-SFO flight to depart only 2 hrs 15min earlier from the current CX872? It seems rather strange that two 744s going the same route & direction will only be departing 2 hrs 15min apart from one another. :confused:

Maybe it also has something to do with SFO staffing. With a couple hours of spacing you could have a one full shift service both flights. Just a guess.

(ii) CX tries to park the aircraft at SFO for as short as possible.
Well that really is contradictory to the 12 hours the aircraft sits in SFO in between CX872 and CX873.

I actually had seen a CX 872 disembarked at Concourse G once... actually mid July... when I was waiting for my AA flight... I saw the CX 744 headed towards Concourse G instead of the usual A. I just thought there was possibly a bit busy at A, and for disembarking, there is really no difference between A and G. CX personnel can easily walk over and same as the ground handling company. The only hassle is that the aircraft has to "travel" a bit more during its "break" because it has to be towed from G back to the A area later...

I think if there is a delay on the earlier SFO flight, the second SFO flight may use whatever age is available for disembarking. Since the flight will spend some time at SFO, the priority is to get the CX 870/9 at Concourse A first, and then 872 can disembark at whatever international gate is available... and tow back to G in the evening hours.

SFO International COncourse is actually not too busy in the morning hours... A especially... G is busy with all the UA flights, but A is relatively quiet with NW and AS Mexican flights, and then JL arrived a bit late in the morning.

Anyway, Concourse A is opening a few more gates later this summer... so everything should be fine (although Virgin America will also be using a few of the A gates too...).

Carfield

Nothing unusual about flights departing close to each other. 881/883 are two hours apart leaving LAX.

251 and 255 HKG-LHR are only 40 minutes apart.

[And, all 3 of BA's HKG-LHR flights depart within 80 minutes. 11:15p, 11:40p and 12:35a.]

---

As for the long layover at SFO, it's not unusual for Asian airlines to leave planes in the US for many hours in the afternoon. The flights can't arrive too late, or passengers can't connect to the Mid-west or East Coast. And they can only depart close to midnight, or they arrive back in Asia too early in the morning.

That is what I think too! If 872 arrives too late, there will be fewer connections. If 873 leaves in the early evening, it will be in HKG too early. If 873 leaves in the afternoon, it can arrive HKG at night, but is not good for onward connection in HKG.

The result is that the aircraft stays in SFO for about 12 hours.

Don't know how accurate or reliable the source is:
http://airlineroute.blogspot.com/2007/07/cathay-boosts-sfo-frequencies.html

But from the link shows the 2nd SFO flight numbers and schedules for the upcoming winter schedule. Bolded are the new flights:

CX870 HKG-SFO 1410/1005 744
CX872 HKG-SFO 1630/1225 744

CX873 SFO-HKG 0010/0655+1 744
CX879 SFO-HKG 1205/1855+1 744

Interestingly the new flights will also be operated by the 744s. Does CX really have enough 744s to operate double daily on SFO?

Hi I always goes with what's being shown on the GDS. So if it's a rumour, not being confirmed, I won't bother posting them, just like the 3rd daily NY schedule.

They are not rumors. They are real.

I feel quoting from a somewhat reliable source, even if unconfirmed, is okay. Forum readers can know what is going on. I think the information is useful.

Hi I always goes with what's being shown on the GDS. So if it's a rumour, not being confirmed, I won't bother posting them, just like the 3rd daily NY schedule.
When I originally started the thread, I didn't see any press release from CX or anything to confirm, hence at that time I wasn't 100% sure. Not until few hours later after starting the thread did I realize the schedules were already uploaded on the cx site.

When I originally started the thread, I didn't see any press release from CX or anything to confirm, hence at that time I wasn't 100% sure. Not until few hours later after starting the thread did I realize the schedules were already uploaded on the cx site.

Airlines tends to do schedule updates in GDS on Thursday, at least that's with the case of Amadeus. Also airlines does update it first with their schedules on their websites.

So sometimes there are cases of airlines uploading/changing schedules before the official announcement is made.

How will CX arrange the meals for the new daytime flight ex-SFO? Will it be:

1) Breakfast after takeoff followed by lunch prior to landing?
or
2) Lunch after takeoff followed by dinner prior to landing?
or
3) Lunch after takeoff followed by breakfast prior to landing?
or
4) Dinner after takeoff followed by breakfast prior to landing?

:confused: :confused:

Well it will be the same as CX 885 and 839...

Lunch after takeoff...
The usual midflight snack/refreshment on demand
Supper (abbreviated dinner -- appetizer (fruit usually), entree (2 choices in J and Y, and 3 choices in F), and dessert (followed by pralines if the F/As remember).

Supper (abbreviated dinner -- appetizer (fruit usually), entree (2 choices in J and Y, and 3 choices in F), and dessert (followed by pralines if the F/As remember).
Only two choices for J??? :eek: :eek: