Why does this outdated notion still persist? C'mon people, there is a cheaper option for your helpers. The other Pacific -- Cebu!

Indeed. Hong Kong residents are generally woefully ignorant about the Philippines. Yes, many maids come from there but the population must be around 115 million, giving rise to a substantial number of people who appreciate the comforts life can offer and have the ability to pay for them. Most of the wealthy in Manila live in gated villages so are only seen by visitors when they are invited in. There are also a substantial number of expats living in condos in BGC and Makati. Many of both groups used to use Cathay to fly up front to the US and return. The way they are treated on the HKG/MNL sectors is leading them to switch to other east Asian operators. They are also increasingly flying to Europe and there they have switched to SQ rather than CX as can be seen by the capacity SQ operates now compared to say 2019 versus the same for Cathay. CX and its avid supporter(s) like to talk of 7 flights a day to Manila but 3 or 4 of those are on the dreaded A321s with PY seats sold as J and the rest on the A330s with the cramped, uncomfortable J seats while SQ uses A350s for almost all of its flights. Long ago many CX flights were on 747s and 777s, all with far greater capacity. Remember the intelligent misuse of aircraft policy? Only KA used beer cans.

I don't think so, as CX got 5 (or 6?) JFK slots, which they're not reaching the limit.
EWR is a UA hub, not great for CX to sell connection tickets.

The problem isn't Cathay--which is still a high-quality airline with a well-regarded brand--but their pricing. Even pre-pandemic, their pricing between Canada and Asia was consistently 25-30% higher than fares from competing carriers between the same destinations, including Air Canada. And today their fares remain overpriced.

Not if you are an expat DINK family with a 7 or 8-figure AM balance.

Most helpers I am told prefer Cathay. Probably why almost all of the many daily flights are almost always full.

Key points here:
-CX currently has a MONOPOLY on all east-coast (including Canada) -- HK flying.
-United would use significant lobbying capital to prevent them from serving its hub without the no-Russia provision that it (along with AA and DL) has managed to slap upon all flights awarded to Chinese carriers since Q1 2023.
-In fact, simply entertaining an EWR move could possibly motivate UA to mess with CX's current JFK and BOS flights (hopefully, the DOT would ignore them, but CX would presumably prefer to avoid arousing that bear).

I think thats what I mean so I dont understand the argument.

How about AUH ?

is it evening or daytime if daytime you have five hours between the KA HKG-CRK flight and CX899 arrival from EWR also CX843/845 from JFK. Both are timed well for CX907 HKG-MNL

one of the Singapore Airlines flights to Manila is actually a Dreamliner SQ918/915. They both serve the longest flights Inbound get a SQ21 ticket to SIN from EWR and then SQ918 to MNL while SQ915 is combined with SQ24 to JFK. If you put the big picture with HKG SIN and the Filipinos traveling from those places ULH EWR/JFK you get this picture SQ = CX > PR (菲律賓航空 spelling by Hong kongers/Taiwanese). You do get something like this in pricing CX more expensive to do EWR-MNL due to the loss of CX890/899 while SQ sometimes drop to $800 by getting both A350-900ulr 9V-SGA-SGG fleet and then the B787-10 SQ918. Overall both routings do beat PR127 JFK-MNL.

I haven't examined the flight timings in detail, but how do those connecting itineraries beat the nonstop?

HOW did this thread get reduced to Manila, Cebu and Clark flights just CX vs SQ (and a lesser degree, PAL)

because CX does not have the planes or pilots to fly anywhere else!!!

The fruits of terrible planning.

Why ! because no one has contributed much re other routes in the last few days.
Do you have a meaningful contribution ?

The HK Standard is reporting today that Ronald Lam says they will add 10 new destinations bringing the total to 90 by year end. He is reported as saying that they had plans to add destinations in the mainland and Belt and Road countries. Could include all countries in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the west coast of South America. As a resumption? Pakistan? Or Turkey?