CX currently has 14 33Ks in the fleet. I can't help but notice the future of 33K on regular medium/long haul routes is...bleak. Within 7 months regular 33K medium/long-haul flights will get cut in half:
Regular medium/long haul scheduled service only for 33K
Current
*43 weekly dispatches from HKG, =~6+ daily
By November, 2017
*24 weekly dispatches from HKG, = ~3+ daily
In addition 4 of those weekly departures are to MLE, where 33E is already regularly swapped in to replace 33K.
The major catalyst are the ongoing changes whereby 35G and 77G are going to Australia much more, replacing the 33K service there.
Message to mods - apologies, I started a similar thread months ago and will ask to merge.
Changes coming?
There are 14 33K in the fleet. The only difference between 33K and 33E (13 in fleet) is that 33K has PEY and thus slightly fewer seats, while 33E doesn't have PEY...J and Y only. The J class layout on each bird is identical.
This got me thinking the following:
*If 33K stays as it, there will be a
lot of 33K birds floating around regional service if they stay. Perhaps we will see more guaranteed PEY routes regionally?
*Is it possible 33K gets reconfigured as 33E, to align the fleet better?
*Is CX going to get rid of some of their long-haul A330s or send to KA? I know they've dumped some of the 33Ps to KA, but there are going to be a lot of 33K frames available within 7 months' time.
*Or are there more changes coming?
I'm just using the data from our spreadsheet:
Cathay Pacific / Cathay Dragon Route, Fleet and Configuration Guide