Asian full-service carrier, Hong Kong Airlines, will increase competition in the Hong Kong – Tokyo market from this summer when it resumes flights between its Hong Kong International Airport base and Narita International Airport in the Japanese capital after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus.
The new twice daily offering will commence from July 1, 2016 and will see the airline operate on a route already served by All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and low-cost operators Jetstar Japan and Vanilla Air. Ethiopian Airlines also offer continuation flights on this route from its Addis Ababa hub, while Al Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and Japan Airlines also serve the Hong Kong – Tokyo Haneda market.
Hong Kong Airlines previously served the Hong Kong – Tokyo Narita route on a daily basis between October 2010 and January 2013. Its sister carrier, low-cost operator HK Express, introduced its own operations on the route in December 2014 and now offers two daily flights, increasing to three from late October 2016. The latter also serves Tokyo Haneda from Hong Kong.
Tokyo will be Hong Kong Airlines’ seventh destination in Japan and will complement its existing twice daily flights to Routes Asia 2017 host city, Okinawa, daily flight to Okayama, five times weekly service to Sapporo, three times weekly service to Kagoshima and twice weekly flights to Miyazaki and Kumamoto.
“As the capital of Japan and one of the most important metropolitan cities in Asia, Tokyo has long been the favourite destination for Hong Kong people for both business and leisure travel,” said Li Dianchun, chief commercial officer, Hong Kong Airlines.
The Hong Kong-based airline, part of the fast-expanding HNA Group, will deploy a widebodied Airbus A330-300 on the route, featuring a 32-seat Business Class cabin. The new service will introduce over 1,100 seats a day into a market that already has a supply of over 6,500 daily seats.
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