CZ has been close to 100% load on CAN-ADL, so finally the most requested route is back.

the A350 is suprsingily good aircraft for this route, perhaps to compete with CZ and SQ.

Why are they all seasonal?

SQ is able to sustain Rome, Christchurch, Adelaide year round...

CX doesn't have enough aircraft, so they are operating services seasonally to optimise profit I guess... It's not too hard to figure it out when they are are a business aiming to maximise profit like any other.

Edit: With regards to SQ, they may be choosing to forego some other destinations in favour of continually operating to these cities - while CX's objective is to increase their range of destinations.

pretty sure SQ's profit was double CX on a smaller fleet... for 2024.

Given the fleet constraints, I wonder why CX insists on sending 350 to Australia except for CNS. There are a few 330 frames with long haul configuration that can be used for Australian routes. These Aussie routes had been served by the 330 anyway.

This is misunderstanding of the financial situations of these two companies. For the fiscal year of 2024, for SQ, there was an one-off gain on disposal of Vistara at ~1.1 billion SGD. Any reasonable comparison should be based on the operating profit level.

On the operating profit level, for the fiscal year of 2024, SQ made ~1.7 billion SGD/~1.3 billion USD, while CX made 13.9 billion HKD/~1.78 billion USD.

Probably becasue CX thinks Australia is a key market, and the better product on the 350 would attract them more transit pax instead of the old 330s. The 330s will focus on short haul regional routes until they retire.

You are spot on. CX has to compete with strong products from SQ, QR, EK to name a few. There’s also CX’s freight business ex-Aus and the 350 and 777 can lift a whole lot more than a 330.

https://news.cathaypacific.com/catha...asonal-service

Cathay Pacific returns to Adelaide with a thrice-weekly winter seasonal service

The South Australian capital will be Cathay Pacific’s eighth passenger destination in the Southwest Pacific region

Cathay Pacific is adding another destination to its Southwest Pacific network this winter with the return of non-stop flights between Hong Kong and Adelaide starting 11 November 2025. The three-times-weekly winter seasonal service resumes an important connection between the airline’s home hub and the South Australian capital, providing more choices for customers travelling between Hong Kong, the Southwest Pacific and beyond.

Let's see will CX add another seasonal AKL flight for winter and that's it.

I don't think CX would be shy about dumping a 330 on this if it turned out they needed the 350 somewhere else. They put a 330 on CNS which was also seasonal this year. CNS is of course less competitive but SQ is there. Actually, I wonder if CNS will come back next winter or if this replaces it. The press release on ADL does mention Cairns being a seasonal destination.

I may be a minority view, but I don’t think CX cares two squats about any of this. I think they’ll do what needs to be done for operating reasons including aircraft rotations and availability, passenger demand/yield vs aircraft operating costs, and cargo considerations.

The reality is we are quite attune to the differences but the long haul CX products (non Aria especially) aren’t really that different, it’s not like regional vs long haul. All have a bed and IFE and wifi. I don’t mean to be harsh but my bet is CX doesnt see an 33E or whatever that different for a passenger experience than a 35G. And honestly I struggle to contradict that assessment. The differences are definitely there (Thats half the fun of FT), but marginal in the grand scheme of things, especially trying to make a route viable.

now if they tossed a regional a330 down there without a bed, then I’d have a different view.

I agree generally and wouldn't book away from 330 to 350. God knows it will probably be subbed at the gate anyways. Lol. The only real difference is the state of disrepair of the 77Ws and 330s and the quality of the screen/IFE.

Maybe more 77Ps for Japan, Singapore and India to release the A359s?

i think the usage of A350 is because there would be some spare frames as FCO, BCN etc. are only seasonal and therefore some would be left over

not to mention to compete better against SQ and nearby CZ, or maybe a chance to sell premium economy as both competitors don't have it in ADL.

though if CX adds more destinations again I think this route can easily turn into a A330