All Things Travel: Hong Kong Flights On The Horizon For Boston
BOSTON (CBS) – A Chinese airline will be offering flights from Logan Airport to Southeast Asia starting this spring, officials say.
Cathay Pacific recently wrapped up a three-day international sales meeting in the city, as the airline gets ready to start flights from Logan Airport to Hong Kong on May 3.
One hundred-sixty people from the airline's management team were at The Langham Hotel for a series of presentations about the carrier's new U.S. destination.
Cathay Pacific added a fourth daily flight in the New York City area at the Newark airport last year and is also increasing service from San Francisco.
The airline will use Boeing 777 aircraft, with four classes of service on-board including Premium Economy on their Boston flights.
Marius Carstensen, formerly of Lufthansa, was recently appointed the new regional sales manager for Cathay Pacific in New England.
Hong Kong will be a major tourist destination for Boston travelers and serve as a gateway to China.
Tom Owen, senior vice president for the Americas, said that Hong Kong has a new airport with a strong network of flights to other Southeast Asia destinations.
"We estimate that over 40 percent of our passengers go on to other airports," Owen said.
He also said that there is fast rail service downtown from the airport.
Cathay Pacific is part of the Oneworld Alliance. American Airlines and its merger partner, U.S. Airways, are also part of that alliance and will feed passengers to the new flight from cities in the northeast.
The airline is expecting more sales activities in the next couple of months and is planning special events in late April.
Massport, which runs Logan Airport, made a market presentation on New England to the Cathay Pacific visitors, led by CEO Tom Glynn.
Detailed promotion plans supporting the Cathay Pacific start-up were not available from Massport or the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.
Hong Kong will be the 43rd international airport with non-stop flights from Boston.
All Things Travel Reports with Bob Weiss can be heard on WBZ News Radio