Cathay Pacific Airways inaugurated the Hong Kong-Urumqi route on April 28.
The service is operated four times a week on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays, using an Airbus A330-300 aircraft. The flight duration is 5.5 hours from Hong Kong and 5 hours and 5 minutes from Urumqi.
Ahead of the launch, a cocktail reception was held in Hong Kong on April 25, attended by CEO Ronald Lam and Mabel Chan, Director of Transport and Logistics of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
Urumqi is a city in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in the interior of China. Apart from Cathay Pacific, China Southern Airlines also operates two round trips per week on this route. There are no direct flights from Japan, requiring a connecting flight. By May 2024, Urumqi and eight other cities will be added to the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), which permits individual travel to Hong Kong, anticipating an increase in visitors to Hong Kong.
The Cathay Pacific Group’s destinations in mainland China have expanded to 22 cities, operating over 300 weekly flights during the summer peak.
■ Timetable CX998 Hong Kong (01:30) → Urumqi (07:00) / Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun CX997 Urumqi (10:15) → Hong Kong (15:20) / Mon, Thu, Sat, Sun
