G-CIVC

Equipment upgraded to A321 as well

KA396 HKG-HND 2355-0455+1
KA397 HND-HKG 0625-1040

Link

fakecd

japanese link say it was "popular flight"... was it???

schedule sucks still..

kaka

Sure it is, you can connect to the early bank of Japanese domestic flights

Nicc HK

I flew it once and every seat was taken. Spoke to the ISM as I was rather surprised, but seems a lot of HK'ers wanted to maximise their last day in Tokyo, for instance have a dinner before going to the airport, after an afternoon sight seeing or shopping and preferred this to departures in the early evenings which limited their full day there.

I think it meant it was filling the Y cabin definitely, do not know about the pointy end.

QRC3288

It is also usually the odds-on cheapest option from Tokyo on CX/KA. I don't think it's a very high yielding flight at all, but CX can fill it up and keep a KA plane utilized overnight. The KA fleet has a much lower utilization ratio than CX mainline due to lack of longhauls and lack of many redeyes. This helps them. But I don't think it's high yielding, especially in J...they gotta pack it full in the back with tourists.

I'm not sure tourists care about the timing so much as the price. It's often the only HND flight with those super discount Y class seats. That's what I think they really like most.

KAPilot

Its full. A lot.

I don't understand why, given times, but it's full.
Must be price.

sxc

And people like to maximise their holidays. Saves a night's hotel.

cx4ever

But it doesn't do that anymore... with the revised schedule it leaves HND at 6:25AM. Does this mean that CX/KA is now targeting tourists from HND into HKG so that they don't have to spend extra flights on hotels, instead of vice versa?

SLGO

Overnight flights to Korea / Japan are just so popular to Hong Kong leisure travellers, which maximise travel time. Cheaper ticket prices too.

sxc

The outbound from HK suits the HK tourist.

QRC3288

Definitely the price. End of the day, not a bad gig for KA (aka CX). It would really help CX if they could get a few more of those redeye overnights for their KA subfleet. Most of the KA fleet is sitting on the ground overnight; there are nil long-hauls and very few red-eyes to keep them going longer utilization hours.

The only catch is, they need to be careful because the product is pretty weak for full-fare paying business customers that CX/KA cater heavily to. If they can successfully segment it though as essentially LLC flights, it's a good way for them to utilize the planes.

I'm pretty sure it's about when they get their slots at HND/HKG, combined with pricing considerations on their end. I know that sometimes airports will even charge different landing rates for different times, or slots come bundled - with some of them clearly premium, and others clearly inferior. I feel confident this KA slot is in the latter category. I don't think this is being timed with the customer in mind...it's being timed with price in mind, and the customers who care about price will follow. It's also possible that slot comes with certain restrictions and gives HND airport latitude to change timing. It's never the primo slots that come with those terms. I'm not familiar with HND but I've seen this at other airports I've dealt with.

kaka

Both legs fhe ka flight will suit pax from origin, and they can fly back on cx.

ctb213ctb213

I am actually very positive about this flight. The timing looks bad for business travelers, but it is very good for leisure travelers. Also, the timing is good for transit passengers (for both end), which open up more transit options, in particular for passengers transit to South-East Asia (e.g. SIN, KUL, BKK).

KA can consider launch more flights with similar timing to different Asia cities, to provide more options for travelers and improve plane utilization. I guess not every single flight need to have good timing and fit the need of business travelers, Leisure travelers can also make a flight sustainable, especially KA got smaller plane, which is perfect fit for such "bad timing flights", that CX cant make the route viable. For example, CX tried the ICN and BKK to HK red eye for a short period of time and got terminated. KA can take that up to make it viable.

sscywong

Actually I read a jp blog mentioning that KA397/6 is good for ex-HND leisure passengers to have a quick getaway to HK... Redeye to HK... then evening time back Tokyo...

New schedule will be more favorable for ex-HKG leisure travel and ex-HND business traveler...

TravelDream

Whilst these flights are probably low-yielding, they are very popular with leisure travelers in Hong Kong. People here have very few paid holidays so need to maximise what they get.

KA396 will be very popular with these travelers as they can finish work, go home and get their bag and then go to the airport.

This is different with European travelers who have a lot more paid holidays.

And actually, the number of late late flights to BKK always amazes me as there are several between 2200 and 0200 from HKG. These flights are, whenever I've taken them, 100% full in economy with tourists.