China's Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific airline announced on Thursday that it will operate a new direct Dublin-Hong Kong flight four times per week from next June.
Cathay Pacific is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. It has flights to 197 destinations in 48 countries and territories.
The Dublin flight will arrive in Hong Kong early in the morning local time, providing a wide range of connecting options with flights to Chinese mainland, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and Australia on the Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon networks.
Cathay Pacific will operate the new service with an Airbus A350-900 aircraft in a three class configuration. Starting June 2, 2018, the route will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
The new year-round service will be Dublin Airport's first ever direct route to the Asia-Pacific region, and is a major milestone for the airport and the entire Irish economy, according to Ireland's airport company DAA.
An estimated 4,000 Irish people live in Hong Kong. Currently, about 40,000 people per year travel between Dublin and Hong Kong, according to the Irish embassy in China.
