Well, this is exciting news! Cathay Pacific will be launching service between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tel Aviv (TLV) on March 26, 2017. This route will be operated by the brand new A350-900, which feature Business Class, Premium Economy Class, and Economy Class. The flight will be offered 4 times weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays).
Both direction will be red-eyes, with early morning arrivals, which will likely be popular among business travelers. The route will have a slightly different schedule depending on the season. The flight will take 11 hours and 40 minutes on the outbound from Hong Kong, and 10 hours 20 minutes on the return. The summer schedule as follows:
- CX 675: Hong Kong – Tel Aviv, 0100/0740
- CX 674: Tel Aviv – Hong Kong, 1350/0510+1
Rumors of this route has been swirling quite a bit, and seemed to be a good candidate for an A350 route. El Al is the only airline that currently operates this route, so it will be nice to see some competitions. Cathay Pacific’s Business Class product is already phenomenal, and the offering on there A350, which will fly this route, looks to be even better.
It does not appear award spaces have been loaded yet, but this will be a pretty good route for redemptions once available. American file Hong Kong under “Asia 2”, and Tel Aviv under “Middle East.” Here are the costs of award tickets between the two regions.
- Economy: 25,000 AA miles one-way
- Business: 40,000 AA miles one-way
Meanwhile, this is what Alaska charges for travel on Cathay Pacific between Hong Kong and Middle East:
- Economy: 22,5000 Alaska miles one-way
- Premium Economy: 25,000 Alaska miles one-way
- Business: 30,000 Alaska miles one-way
For the launch, Cathay is offering Economy fares as low as ~US$620 round-trip, in case you’re interested.
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4 comments
But Award tickets on Business are already fully book.
@Louis
Fully booked or not loaded yet?
Not sure, tried to book April, only waitlist available.
El Al hasn’t updated its business class in nearly two decades. Cathay is going to be very popular.