Cathay does not have unlimited resources and is not searching for places to deploy those that it has. Canberra is competing with Beijing. Guess who will win. According to the SCMP "Hong Kong needs more direct flights to 8 new cities in the solo traveller scheme". It goes on to list: Taiyuan, Hohhot, Harbin, Lhasa, Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan and Urumqi. Dream on Canberra.

I though Old China had previously suggested that Canberra could be joined with Adelaide in a triangle. My preferred triangle including Adelaide would be Darwin with say 2 or 3 overnight non-stops each week between HKG and ADL and 2 or 3 overnight non-stops between ADL and HKG. Daylight flights would stop in Darwin. Tourists could have a great time at the top end and also ride the Ghan. But surely first get the major cities back to 70 flights a week.