Cathay to axe Cairns after 25 years
#18
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 5,797
I don't have the information Arbysix does, but of the industry in general I know pax pays a helluva lot more than cargo, (with rare exceptions) almost no matter what you're hauling. You win a route on pax yield and the rest is gravy. A route like CNS which I suspect was thin on pax demand / yield mix, it is exasebated because you can't justify a bigger plane like 77W which has much more cargo space. So while cargo may have been a factor it is not going to justify sending a primarily passenger plane there just for that. Unless it is so amazing CX could send one of their cargo birds.
I'm sorry to see any decrease in the CX network. But my sense says there isn't some secret game here to suddenly launch with KA, or UO, or this is good news in disguise. I think it just means what is most obvious....yield didn't justify it. Bummer.
I also think this lends credibility to the folks thinking CX will dump some A330 frames to KA. CX mainline will have to have some type of capacity reduction if they're really going to ditch a bunch of planes off to KA, as I've seen some folks speculating. You can't just get rid of planes and expect the mainline network to stay the same.
I'm sorry to see any decrease in the CX network. But my sense says there isn't some secret game here to suddenly launch with KA, or UO, or this is good news in disguise. I think it just means what is most obvious....yield didn't justify it. Bummer.
I also think this lends credibility to the folks thinking CX will dump some A330 frames to KA. CX mainline will have to have some type of capacity reduction if they're really going to ditch a bunch of planes off to KA, as I've seen some folks speculating. You can't just get rid of planes and expect the mainline network to stay the same.
#19
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 116
It appears that this is the case according to various Australian news sites, but CX still decided to cancel the route. I thought if anything they would change it to a seasonal service. According to Australian news sites, politicians in Queensland/North Queensland are trying to see if they can provide incentives to continue this service because it's very important to North Queensland tourism and their exports as well. Let's see what happens.
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,349
#21
Community Director Emerita
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anywhere warm
Posts: 33,681
I'm sad to see this. We flew from Australia to the US in December using Alaska award miles. Cairns was the only Cathay destination with award seats. I was very grateful to find them and got to schedule a couple pleasant days in Cairns.
#22
Join Date: Aug 2016
Programs: CX Life Time,TG,
Posts: 254
Presumably as a consequence, according to CX's timetable Brisbane will drop to only one daily flight from the end of March 2020. Since I do not fly over night for medical reasons and can't abide QF I shall be forced to go on SQ via Singapore. They call this progress!
#23
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: Marco Polo Club, KF
Posts: 207
I'm sorry to hear this. Again, I suspect could be part of a deal with QF. Not sure where that is at with the competition regulators at this point.
#24
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Never home.
Posts: 2,971
Somewhat similar to AC re YEG-LHR route. Those unfamiliar may have fun reading into this. Maybe CX just hasnt aired their laundry in the same way.
https://o.canada.com/business/air-ca...ted-icelandair
May be a bit early to conclude that. CX is just doing aircraft swaps now for the end of October season plus adding a few frequencies in Oct/November timeframe to N.A. March 2020 is a ways away.
#25
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 116
CX will have freed up 4 weekly slots within their limit of 70. They could launch another 4-weekly service to Brisbane or even add flights to Perth as well. Seemed a bit silly to me to attach the CNS-BNE leg when it's pretty much always empty.
#26
Join Date: Feb 2019
Location: Australia
Programs: QF, KF, CX, HH, SL
Posts: 26
We are regulars on the PER-HKG route (CX142 & CX171). The flights we have been on are generally quite full, I imagine there might be scope to add some flights to Perth.
#28
Ambassador, Hong Kong and Macau
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: Non-top tier Asia Miles member
Posts: 19,671
#29
Join Date: May 2017
Location: SIN
Programs: AS MVPG75k, AA Plat
Posts: 740
SIN is a QF (and EK) focus city. Liberalisation also has its costs. EK eats into SQ's profitability while SQ eventually gave up on its fifth freedom services from the UAE after countless experiments, and now only serves DXB 1x daily.