JW95

That would be right unfortunately. Originally the A350 was timetabled on CX257/238 until late March, however, this has now changed, with CX expediting plans for London to be 777 only from 1st Feb, so last A350 service is tomorrow :/

hkhighflyer

I will be flying to LHR in May/June... I hope Aria Suite will be available by then if all LHR flights will switch to 777...

tfung

It seems like LHR will be back to 5x daily.. So did they get their slots back from Emirates already?

Reply1984

Cathay will formally bring back the fifth daily flights starting from the summer season. LHR frequency finally back to the pre-pandemic level and hopefully more are on the way such as MAN and LGW.

Very interestingly, the listed departure/arrival time implies CX will resume flying over the Russian airspace starting from the summer season if there is no further update.

(Notice only in Chinese)

JW95

Great news! Glad to see LHR finally back to 5 daily Does that bulletin mention the aircraft type? I'm assuming all 77W? I also agree with you regarding a potential LGW resumption- there has been a lot of discussion on the LGW PPRUNE thread suggesting that Cathay will return to Gatwick from the end of October and that an official announcement will be made soon, fingers crossed!

CarefreeBA

No mention of aircraft type yet. Currently all long haul flights (except those with F) are scheduled to be operated by an A359.

Anyone who's looking for some cheap flights at Easter should snap at these added flights now as they're going for (relatively) very cheap.

US HK UK flyer

I have seen this before and wound up with the longer flight time that circumvents Russia. I think these are just defaults or something.

JW95

I agree. Given the current situation RE. the Russian airspace closure, I think it is very unlikely that Cathay will resume flying over Russia, so I reckon those times listed in the bulletin are the original ones, and will be subject to change.

JW95

With the end of March not being too far off now, does anyone know when CX is likely to finalise its S24 schedules and a/c allocation for London? Looking at the timetable as is at the moment, the times haven't yet been adjusted to reflect the longer flight routings, owing to the Russian airspace closure.

CarefreeBA

Soon I hope - that being said: a good rule of thumb for London flights is that the time on the LHR end doesn't change due to slot restrictions; therefore whatever the flight lands/takes off at LHR is the reference timing. ex-LHR add 12:30-12:45mins; ex-HKG add 14:40-14:45mins.

There is a protection plan in place for those who misconnect due to schedule changes. AC allocation not confirmed but I believe there's a mix of A350s/B77Ws.

gwang0618

Currently, all LHR Operations are with 77W, but does anyone know are they all configured with F?

Also, is there a reliable source regarding new routes/resumptions? LGW and MAN has been great for me transitioning to Liverpool for PL Games, while BHX would be nice as well.

oldchinahand

Yes -all configured with first - BHX will not ever be a CX route

FlyEurope

That is not true.

Currently only 251/252 and 253/254 are flown on the 77A that has first. The other rotations are generally on the 77K without first.

For summer 24 as a general rule only 251/252 seems to be loaded with F - though the summer schedule to LHR is really only a placeholder for now.

JW95

Not yet, no. As FlyEurope has said, only 2 of the 5 sectors are served with the 77A (First class product), being CX251/252 and CX253/254. All others continue to be served with the 77K (Economy, Premium Economy, Business class). As for what will happen once the W23 schedules come to an end at the end of March, this is still unclear and being finalised now. Currently, the official CX timetables show LHR as 1 daily 77W, with the rest being A359. Personally, I highly doubt this will be the case. CX have been very keen to revert their LHR operation to 77W only, and I suspect that this will be the case once the S24 schedules for LHR have been finalised, I don't think we will be seeing the A359/A351 back at Heathrow sadly

As far as LGW is concerned, Gatwick is being heavily rumoured to be returning to the network from the end of October this year. Someone on the LGW PPRUNE FlyerTalk thread has said that per colleagues who work within the airport, Cathay will be resuming LGW-HKG at 5 weekly, using the A359, and that an announcement regarding this is expected soon before June. As someone who used the LGW service several times when it was brought back in 2016, I sincerely hope that they will be back, as it was a nicer alternative to LHR, and having the A350 on the route was definitely an added bonus.

US HK UK flyer

Birmingham airport officials reported meeting with CX about this. Is everyone wasting their time?