Cathay to "compete hard on price" against Virgin on Melbourne-HKG
By David Flynn, May 1 2017
Cathay Pacific has promised to be price-competitive on the Melbourne-Hong Kong route as Virgin Australia counts down to the July 5 launch of flights between the two cities.
However, the Hong Kong-based airline has indicated it will stop short of a price war which substantially drives down prices and profit margins.
"We'll compete hard on price, but this doesn’t mean we’ll lead pricing down," says Richard Jones, Cathay Pacific's Sales & Marketing Manager for Australia.
"It’s our job to ensure the market sees we are worth the little extra they might pay."
According to statistics from the Federal Government, the Melbourne-Hong Kong route carried an average of 59,000 travellers per month over the last quarter of 2016.
Writing in Cathay Pacific staff magazine The Journey, Jones allows that while Virgin Australia's Airbus A330 "business class is good, but its schedule isn’t ideal."
"We have a superior schedule, and consistency of product across the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon networks. We fly in the morning, afternoon and evening from Melbourne – flexibility that is attractive to the higher yield corporates."
In the newly competitive market "We need to play to our strengths: frequency, service and superior product," Jones emphasises.
One of those flights – CX104/105 – already runs on Cathay's Airbus A350, with the second daily CX 134/135 shifting to the advanced A350 (which includes inflight Internet as well as a premium economy cabin) – from 29 October 2017, while CX178/163 remains on the larger Boeing 777-300ER.
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
05 May 2016
Total posts 616
CX is part of OneWorld. So if you need to fly to HKG but about half the status credits of flying QF doesn't matter for retaining/gaining status or you don't value status that much then CX is a great option for QFF members,
21 Apr 2012
Total posts 3006
CX is the dominant player on the AU-HK market:
SYD/HKG - 3 times a day
MEL/HKG - 3 times a day
ADL/HKG - Daily
BNE/HKG - 2 times a day
CNS/HKG - 3 times a week
PER/HKG - Daily
"We'll compete hard on price, but this doesn’t mean we’ll lead pricing down...It’s our job to ensure the market sees we are worth the little extra they might pay ."
Translation: We will monitor pricing to ensure we are not priced too high vis a vis VA and QF, but because of our dominance in the AU market it would be dumb for us to try to be the cheapest.
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
01 Jun 2016
Total posts 12
SYD/HKG is 4 Daily.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 May 2014
Total posts 464
A bit off-topic, but PER/HKG is usually 9 or 10 per week. It is a shame they can't run CX136/137 more than 2 - 3 times a week, it provides daytime outbound connections to Japan and also some good inbound connections such as YVR.
12 Dec 2012
Total posts 1030
CX website says PER is 9 weekly.
SYD 28 weekly
MEL 21 weekly
BNE 11 weekly
PER 9/10 weekly
The limit across those 4 ports is 70/week.
CX needs to get in on the CBR flights (which like ADL and CNS don't count towards the 70/week limit).
23 Mar 2012
Total posts 98
Although CX have not publically indicated their timetable depicts several reduced Sydney flights per week over the next few months CX 162 is not operating I attempted to book but it has been deleted from operation therefore not 28 flights per week!
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
03 Jul 2011
Total posts 187
ADL is only 4 days a week these days :-(
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Aug 2015
Total posts 56
I'm amazed VA don't do Syd-Hkg. When i asked them they said : we contuniusly moitor demand and will implement if needed.
20 Apr 2014
Total posts 93
Oz routes are a cash cow for CX who are in a parlous state at present financially, they will likely try to get VA to quit the route to avoid losing market share - I'd watch for a price war to break out. Could be some keen pricing.
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
27 Mar 2013
Total posts 6
Cathay Pacific - The Marco Polo Club
01 Jun 2016
Total posts 12
CX100 from Sydney and CX104 from Melbourne are best for Aussie - Europe connections; they land at around 9:45 and gives you a perfect 2 (or 3)-hour turnaround time at HKG since most CX european flights leave between midnight and 1AM.
Cathay Pacific - Asia Miles
25 Apr 2013
Total posts 542
Can't you do HKG-LHR with Virgin Atlantic? Granted that's only one option, but still...
01 Jun 2016
Total posts 58
VA will have a partnership with Hong Kong Airlines subject to regulatory approval
Virgin Australia - Velocity Rewards
10 Dec 2016
Total posts 43
Yes while CX have more flights, the offering in Business Class is lineball if not lesser than VA. The lower points earning rate on CX versus VA will impact. I for one will be using VA as I rate the Business cabin service very highly versus the CX which can be very good or very bad. Not sure what lounges VA premium flyers will have access to in HK yet
Virgin Blue - Velocity Rewards
12 May 2011
Total posts 23
Bauhinia lounge with HK Airlines (also owned by Hainan Airlines)
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Aug 2015
Total posts 56
They use Plaza Premium sometimes when the normal lounge is full or being cleaned.
26 Aug 2012
Total posts 44
Business class airfares on this route are so expensive. CX usually more than QF. Maybe some competition will help?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Dec 2015
Total posts 4
Bring on the competition!!! I have not been a fan of CX on the SYD to HKG route, as their prices are exorbitant. SYD-HKG return is 5.5K, SYD to pretty much most of Europe is 6.5-7K, WTF?
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
22 Aug 2015
Total posts 56
Agreed.... and specials of 3.5k can be easily found with QA these days
31 Mar 2016
Total posts 619
DragonBaby:
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
28 Dec 2015
Total posts 4
"Total number of suppliers in each mkt offering the most direct routing possible:
SYD-HKG=2 (Unless U fancy a flight connection in S.E.Asia)
SYD-Europe=At least 20"
Yes, I understand that completely, so I am so happy that the ME3 and chinese carriers exist and have so much capacity while I don't have any intention of flying with them. I totally agree with you that distance flown has no bearing on the pricing, and hence on the SYD-HKG route I refuse to fly CX as they are clearly making a killer profit.
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