But the return time is pretty bad...

I guess CX is not targetting the connection traffic at this early stage... rather it is into the point to point traffic. Judging from CO's relatively high load factors on EWR to HKG, I think CX's flights should be a success especially for F and J. I can picture CX stealing many real F passengers from CO. CO's BF is not a bad product, but it is not really first class, and the service can be hit or miss. The Asian F/As that CO hires are pretty bad... also Y at CO's Boeing 777s are pretty bad... CX's A340-600 is not that better, but more legroom for sure for Y.

Also, slots may be another problem. Terminal seven is pretty crowded as of this point. I guess with BA's transatlantic schedule, it is hard for CX to add a later arrival time into JFK. I hope CX can negotiate something down the road because BKK/HAN/SGN/MNL/TPE/SIN/KUL provide many connection traffic for CX's LAX flights, and I am sure that applies to SFO/YVR/YYZ/JFK flights too... Except SIN, CX flights can potentially be a super time saver for Southeast Asian passengers.
My guts feeling is that the slots have something to do with it.

Carfield

[This message has been edited by Carfield (edited Mar 10, 2004).]