Agreed, and I think the same applies to most second and third tier Chinese cities, but haven't we been including Hong Kong Express in this discussion?

however, Austrian flew to Vienna from hk before

my bet Casablanca or muscat , the current or future OW hub

I also guess Birmingham, UK and a destination in Central Asia and Pakistan respectively

Then surely it will not be Budapest. Can you imagine that ever making a profit without a massive subsidy. Cathay seems to be very tight on 777 and A350 pilots. Likely new routes will fit A321s, others will not be maximising profit.

Yes but I don't think it will be a "32Q turnaround".

According to Great Circle Distance, HRB is closer than CTS. CX currently does crew turnaround for CTS in the summer schedule.
Even if it's a UO port, they can still do a turnaround.

For aircraft type, if it is a UO port, it must be 321Neo, if it is CX, I guess they would be a 32Q more than 333.
Currently, CZ serve Shenyang by a 320Neo 3-4 weekly, for Jilin, CZ served by 320Neo character.
I guess there are not many biz pax based on the current stat. CX might rely on tour groups to sell seats

As long as they aren't paying the subsidy, what does it matter to them?

Perhaps as part of the corporate rebranding, the airline will be renamed to Kathay Pacific. All new destinations will begin with K:

• Kota Kinabalu
• Kuching
• Krabi
• Kinmen
• Kelowna
• Kawthoung
• Kolkata
• Kamloops

As you said, due to lack of business passengers, I think it is a UO destination. CX will not step into these destinations.

Harbin is even closer than Narita and it does not have much headwind issues. A320ceo is good enough. Those domestic airlines in Shenzhen are happy with their A320ceo/B738 flying this route.

You omitted Kiev. Not much competition there these days.

A320 to phu quoc, jeju and/or sieam reap (maybe have been direct flights to here in the past)

Indeed KA242 on an A320 to Siem Reap (Meaning is 'Victory over Siam'). I recommend anyone that gets the chance visits (I went in April and it was hot!). One flight I hope returns.

We may not see any new destination in Canada in the near future:
https://centreforaviation.com/news/c...ericas-1262641

Sounds like not just Canada but probably the whole Americas.

When I saw the post about Canada, the first thought that came to my mind was that the Mainland carriers have made pretty much zero additions there since Covid. This, combined with the diplomatic sounding statement from the CX guy, suggested to me that AC has been playing some serious defense...to the extent that growing in YYZ/YVR probably is kind of pipedream for now.

With respect to the "whole of America", as long as CX has a monopoly on NYC and remains resource constrained, loading up on that market (at the expense of others where they do face competition) seems like a smart business strategy to me.

They can always shift flights to SFO and LAX if/when United is able to launch EWR and ORD.

Is Boston actually their least contested or potentially contested North American destination?

The AC defense has not included adding back the direct to Toronto (Russian airspace making this too hard?) They're competing on cost I guess but with a stop in Vancouver or via interline partners in Japan/Seoul.