I've read tons of "analyses" from that centre for aviation place, and while I totally disagree that anyone should take LCCs seriously*, some of their musings are agreeable.

CX thrives not on O&D but all of us flying through HKG, and also on invading someone else's home turf with a superior product (service, hardware, and now frequency). Given this & HKG's geographic location being suboptimal for certain routes...

it'd be nice if Cathay's expansion takes the form of fifth- and sixth-freedom routes! THIS is what they should use their CA "connection" for.:P

In other words, this is the EK/EY/QR model. Some might say that CX/SQ did it first, well then it's time to re-commit and up the ante.

*personal experience - I find that LCCs are never really cheaper. Just sayin'