dddc

LGW was a great service that I took 3 times once I found out about it. The A350 was the big drawcard over the cramped and old B777s. Has there been any announcement if the A350 will pick up one of the early rotations? If so I hope the timings work with my BNE flights (whenever they may resume too!).

The complexity of London is LHR is (was pre Covid) pretty full to start with and if CX wanted more flights to London, LGW was a good choice. It also has a different catchment area so possibly took some of the ME3 pax who use LGW away from them, or at least gave them a choice. Even for me living in central London, it's a simpler journey for me to LGW than to LHR. That may change when the Elizabeth line opens, but even then LGW wouldn't be a hardship to get to. There are also a lot of wealthy business folk around those parts so I'm sure the business travel would have been pretty good.

feh

LGW would have made more sense for me, both for visiting my father (Kent) and for the occasional work trip to the Caribbean where I need to transfer between LHR & LGW (or via DOH & MIA).
Problem for me was the schedule LGW-HKG. (HKG-LGW no problem as I've only once in 25 years taken a daytime HKG-LON flight)
The one flight per day (so no early show and get an early flight) and IIRC the time of the flight out of LGW wasn't great.
One advantage CX had over BA at LHR was the number of flights back to HKG. So more choice, more flexibility

I also seem to recall (I usually book flights at fairly short notice) that HKG-LGW seemed to sell out much more quickly than LGW-HKG (flight time/ frequency issue maybe), so I'm wondering whether HKG-LGW was popular but LGW-HKG less so - resulting in underuse of metal?

dddc

It competed with a similarly timed LHR flight and I wouldn't be surprised if most people and TAs didn't consider the LGW option - even though it was usually slightly cheaper. If people put LHR as there search city instead of LON they wouldn't see it at all.

For me the issue with the single LGW flight was that I couldn't get it back if I left BNE at night on the 12.50am flight (my preferred option). The connection was a B777 to LHR. I could take the morning flight, but it was on an A330 which was still more preferable to the B777. If they put the A350 onto the LHR roster, at a time where it works both ways for my connection, then everything is equal in my mind!

SKRan

LGW is actually easier to reach from both the City and Canary Wharf:
City Thameslink - Gatwick Airport direct service, at least 4tph
Canary Wharf - London Bridge - Gatwick Airport - Jubilee line connecting to direct train service
Plus there's Gatwick Express from Victoria.

But being dominated by leisure routes - people do not see it as a business airport even when it has similar rail connection as LCY..

dddc

I think that's part of the issue with LGW. From the City/Wharf a taxi/mini cab is much cheaper for those with expense accounts to LHR than LGW. Time wise it just depends on day of the week/time of day! I've got to LHR in 50mins at 5am and 2hrs at 1pm in a car. The cost of a mini cab to LGW actually makes it easier to stay in hotel the night before if you can get a good deal. Even with the 11.30am LGW CX departure, I've overnighted at a hotel because I didn't fancy trying to get there going through the tail end of peak hour commuting time, on the road or rail. Not when you've got 25hrs of travel a head of me. The hotel cost negates the saving over the LHR ticket price, but the sheer pleasure of the A350 makes it worthwhile.

PS don't take the Gatwick Express from Victoria unless you are really pressed for time. There are local trains that only have a few more stops but a bigger cash saving. Check before you travel.

synthkeys

If CX ever gets back to where it was pre-Covid, I would anticipate in a few years that EWR and/or LGW would be reinstated. Yes, it's a big if but NY area demand was quite high and EWR helped sustain demand for pax on the west side of the Hudson. Similar for LGW for those that want to avoid LHR. IAD & SEA were newer routes that never gained a foothold. I think a big factor in that equation is also the future of HK autonomy and how much the idea of remote access has changed the business culture.

I certainly plan on resuming travel after Covid-19 at the same frequency as before. But I've got some personal reasons for traveling in addition to business reasons that eliminate the remoting option. JFK is a little more inconvenient than EWR but I ended up departing JFK a lot as it became easier to confirm J upgrades on CX 841 & 865. Almost always returned to EWR since the locale cut close to an hour transit back home.

I did enjoy that late flight out of EWR though, 45 minutes to the airport, quick check-in, breeze through security and very close to the gate. Yeah the lounge was underwhelming but at midnight it was certainly better then sitting in the terminal for an hour waiting to board.

My only experience with LGW was back in '90s. I used to fly a CO redeye regularly out of EWR to LGW and take the train from LGW to Victoria station to get to London. I always found LGW to be less of a headache than LHR.

garykung

They would not, as they should not be even existed in the first place. While I understand all of your standpoints, it is never about your convenience, but instead whether the routes make sense to CX, at least financially. To begin with - it costs more to operate in 2 different airports in a metropolitan area.

In the past, CX's apparent strategy was to simply increase their presences. I would not say that work. But at the minimum, CX profit was able to substantiate this move (CX's loss was caused by hedging). But it no longer can make this move.

What CX really needs now is more collaboration with the partners.

JW95

Good morning all, new to FlyerTalk. I was just wondering whether anyone on the forum might know when CX plan to release their S22 schedules? (apologies in advance if this post should belong to a separate thread). Given the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and travel restrictions, I appreciate that Cathay (and others) are presumably holding off for now until some form of clarity begins to emerge i.e on travel resumptions etc.

Also, does anyone know whether CX are considering or plan to reinstate the LGW route in the medium to long term? This is a route that I used frequently over the past few years up until its suspension, and I was very disappointed to learn of its cancellation in November last year. In all the occasions I used it, the flight was nearly always full, with overbooking occurring in the busy season. The CX team at LGW as well as someone in the LGW commercial team told me that it had grown to become a good route for Cathay working well alongside the 5 daily LHR services. Indeed for many of us, it has been a much better alternative to LHR, and I sincerely hope they will be back at Gatwick once mass travel is allowed to resume and the 5 LHR services are reinstated.

realgaga

LGW is not a major destination for CX. If they need to add frequency to London, they will add it to LHR instead.
Therefore, unless a miracle happens, I won't expect CX to reinstate LGW as a destination anytime soon.

JW95

Agreed, and noted. In saying this, LGW was working very well for CX since its launch up until the pandemic hit. Cathay recognise that LGW is often much more convenient for those of us in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and there is clearly a demand for it, otherwise CX would not have initially considered LGW alongside LHR initially. LHR will, inevitably quickly fill back up again once the worst of the pandemic recedes and restrictions are lifted. This will likely mean that it will become harder for Cathay to expand its London presence based on LHR alone once the existing 5 daily services are back online and slots for an additional rotation become unavailable. Therefore, it is plausible for Cathay to reinstate LGW once demand for the London-Hong Kong market justifies. I do hope it comes back.

percysmith

Where does CX343 figure in the CX251/253/255/257/343 hierarchy? Dead last?

realgaga

It was only added in 2017 so I would say probably second last.

pogonation

+1 I was surprised at LGW being chopped. HKG-LON has a lot of O&D traffic so having a second airport which is serves south London much better than LHR makes sense.

Admittedly I am not from that area but flew the LGW a few times and it was always full. The cabin manager said it had been going very well and was usually full. It would be nice to see it come back.

Craig Gillhaus

I did enjoy that late flight out of EWR though, 45 minutes to the airport, quick check-in, breeze through security and very close to the gate. Yeah the lounge was underwhelming but at midnight it was certainly better then sitting in the terminal for an hour waiting to board.

Couldn't agree with you more. Took EWR flights from 2016 through 2019. Since the flights took off at 1 AM, only CX passengers were in the terminal. Drive was quick and parking off site was great and cheap. The customs was just as slow as coming back through JFK. When things will open up again, who knows? But, when they do I will seek out CX first.

Reply1984

I don't see the demand in 2022 or even 2023 can support the 5 daily LHR flights... LGW service won't be resumed until LHR flights are utilized.