Cathay Pacific Launches Direct Flights from Urumqi to Hong Kong, Expanding International Passenger and Freight Radiation Channels from East and Southeast Asia to Central and West Asia | Frontline News

Author | Huang Nan

Editor | Yuan Silai

Yingke learned that Cathay Pacific's direct flight route from Urumqi to Hong Kong was officially launched on April 28. The flights between Hong Kong and Urumqi are operated by Airbus A330 - 300 airliners. Currently, four flights are operated weekly, providing convenient travel options for passengers in Xinjiang and the western region to travel to Hong Kong or transfer via Hong Kong to nearly 100 destinations worldwide of the Cathay Group.

Cathay Pacific Airbus A330 - 300 (Image source/Enterprise)

As the central city of Xinjiang, Urumqi is the core hub of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and an important node connecting northwestern China with Central Asia, while Hong Kong is an international financial, trading and shipping center.

Cheng Ka - ku, the director of the Cathay Group in the Chinese mainland, told 36Kr and others that Cathay Pacific plans to use the Urumqi - Hong Kong route as a link. On the one hand, it will attract global passengers to reach Xinjiang via Hong Kong. On the other hand, it will transport international passengers to Urumqi, and then radiate to Central Asian countries. At the same time, relying on Hong Kong's mature route network layout in Southeast Asia and East Asia, air connectivity among East Asia, Southeast Asia and Central Asia can be achieved, forming a three - dimensional route network with "Hong Kong as the transfer hub and Urumqi as the northwestern fulcrum".

Meanwhile, based on Cathay's mature multimodal transport system in the Greater Bay Area, it can effectively integrate passenger resources from cities such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou. By connecting land transportation and air transportation networks, passengers from the Greater Bay Area can be transported to Urumqi via Hong Kong, strengthening the radiation capacity of the regional transportation network.

Driven by favorable policies such as the full relaxation and optimization of the transit visa - free policy, Cheng Ka - ku said that this new route is expected to attract more international passengers to use Hong Kong as a gateway to explore Xinjiang's tourism resources and accelerate the quality improvement and upgrading of the tourism industry in the western region.

Lu Huibin, the general manager of Xinjiang Airport Group, pointed out to 36Kr and others that the opening of the Urumqi - Hong Kong route by Cathay Pacific can meet the growing travel needs of passengers in Xinjiang and the surrounding areas, and help further enhance Xinjiang's geographical advantages and influence, making Urumqi a comprehensive international aviation hub facing Central and West Asia and connecting Asia and Europe.

In terms of freight, Cathay Pacific will make full use of the belly hold space and give full play to its professional advantages in the fields of cold - chain logistics and high - value cargo transportation. Relying on Urumqi's geographical advantages as a gateway international aviation hub, it will create an efficient and stable air transportation channel connecting Central Asia through Xinjiang to Hong Kong and then radiating to Southeast Asia and the world. The establishment of this transportation system will help improve the efficiency and safety of cross - border logistics, reduce transportation costs, and then promote the import and export trade of characteristic agricultural products and industrial products in Xinjiang and the western region, accelerating the circulation of goods and resource allocation among regions.

According to Cathay Pacific's 2024 financial report, its revenue in 2024 reached HK$104.37 billion (equivalent to approximately RMB 96.65 billion), a year - on - year increase of 10%; the net profit reached HK$9.89 billion (equivalent to approximately RMB 9.157 billion), a slight year - on - year increase of 1%, setting a new high in profitability since 2011. In terms of passenger volume, Cathay Pacific carried 22.827 million passengers throughout 2024, a year - on - year increase of 26.9%, with a seat occupancy rate of 83.2%. It added 15 passenger routes, and the flight volume has returned to the pre - pandemic level.

The freight business also showed an upward trend against the odds. Cathay's freight volume in 2024 reached 1.532 million tons, a year - on - year increase of 10.9%, and the freight revenue exceeded HK$24 billion. This growth trend is mainly due to the strong demand brought about by the booming e - commerce industry and the significant increase in the transportation volume of electronic products among traditional air - freighted goods. The overall freight growth in the cities of the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area also exceeded that of the same period last year.

With the addition of the Urumqi route, Cathay expects to operate about 300 pairs of flights weekly between Hong Kong and 22 domestic destinations during the peak travel season this summer, becoming the airline with the largest number of flights operating between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.