Is a future CX ORD-HKG-ORD a realistic possibility? I see the CX Cargo-747 sitting on the tarmac from time to time which always gets me thinking about the possiility of pax traffic.

I'm a UA 1K who flys this route regularly. Personally, I would love to see more competition on the ORD-HKG-ORD route, and CX seems to be the obvious choice (or, perhaps SQ from ORD-HKG-SIN?). The UA planes are consistantly full on this route, so I would guess that CX would find it economically beneficial. And if CX's first class product is as good as what you all (generally) say, then UA would have something to worry about!

Any insight would be appreciated.

Currently , no.

CX would prefer to double daily flights to NY, Toronto first. That way, ORD passengers may connect at these two places to HKG.

Besides AA, being their Oneworld partner would be the preferred transfer partner from CX flights at LAX and HKG.

If I'm at ORD, it would take a fair amount of arm twisting to get me to fly to YYZ, JFK, YVR, or LAX to connect to CX on the way to HKG. When UA does this monster route non-stop from ORD, why connect through anywhere else?

I guess it really breaks down to the Alliance scheme. Since I'm *Alliance, this suggestion to connect on a non-Star carrier seems completely ludicrous. However, if I were OneWorld, I'd probably connect half a dozen times to collect the miles and status. Send me to YYZ, LAX, wherever... just show me the miles!

How does UA operating a new non-stop 744 from JFK-HKG on April 1, 2001 affect CX? Will they eliminate YVR on the HKG-JFK routing? Would this move by UA make CX more likely to make a move into the Chicago market?

I still hold that CX would do well on the ORD-HKG route. I'd wager that CX will lose a number of folks in NYC and around the east coast to UA if they do not make that route non-stop to HKG and back. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Could/would CX ever consider a non-stop ORD-HKG, and keep the JKF-YVR-HKG routing?

AA has toyed with this idea. Several months ago AA flew a 777 non stop from ORD to HKG to demonstrate the route. No news since.

If I'm not mistaken, I believe CX picks up passengers at YVR for its JFK-YVR-HKG service. By having the stop, CX is not only able to carry a full passenger load but also cargo revenue. Therefore, if CX is to consider flying non-stop JFK-HKG, the revenue upside from passenger only operation would have to be greater than the loss of full passenger and cargo revenue of operating the stop in YVR.

At the end of the day, it's all about the revenue.

Personally, I would rather have a short stop in-between. Even when I fly in the front, I prefer to be able to walk on solid ground once every 12 hours or so.

learned this from my friends who know some CX top managers......
CX would like to increase any of their US route...ORD being one of THE top priorities.
the only barrier is the regulators in US (protectionism -- we all know what threat to AA/UA cx can bring to)...let's beign our lobbying for our consumer rights of receiving better service!

I think it's more a matter of bilateral treaties. There's no open skies agreement with H.K. under the former U.K. or P.R.C. administration. My guess is that there are a fixed number of scheduled flights allowed between HKG and the U.S. I imagine it must be at least 21/week for CX (daily to JFK, LAX and SFO). There's no space for any U.S. airline other than UA (inherited from PA) and NW to fly to HKG.

BTW, the JFK-YVR section doesn't seem full - a lot of pax get of at YVR. It seems this extension is aided in profitability by 5th Freedom rights.