Hong Kong Dublin CX winter suspension

[mr Q]

How much has the suspension of the CX HKG DUB flights until March 2020 got to to with the political situation in HK and how much due to other factors eg. prevailing winter weather affecting loads or fuel consumption or seasonal drop in travel ?

[Veruka Salt]

Originally Posted by mr Q

How much has the suspension of the CX HKG DUB flights until March 2020 got to to with the political situation in HK and how much due to other factors eg. prevailing winter weather affecting loads or fuel consumption or seasonal drop in travel ?

Ever been to Dublin in winter Mr. Q?

[mr Q]

It’s a serious question

[Veruka Salt]

Serious answer then: seasonal demand. Because no one willingly travels to Ireland in winter.

[mr Q]

Well if that is the reason why did CX not tell us that when they inaugurated this route with much fanfare earlier in 2019 ?

[Veruka Salt]

Originally Posted by mr Q

Well if that is the reason why did CX not tell us that when they inaugurated this route with much fanfare earlier in 2019 ?

I guess they didn’t foresee collapse in demand due HK protests. Apparently it hasn’t been well marketed in the Irish market either.

[mr Q]

Thanks
Are there any penalties in performance or loading for the A350 non stop on this route in winter due to prevailing winds etc ?

[Veruka Salt]

The flight times are around 13 hr in winter. Flights have neither been going out at MTOW nor MZFW, so no particular performance penalties. It’s more a problem in summer if wet, 07R (or left), high temps, low QNH etc.

[mr Q]

ThanX Veruka Salt
that answers my query

[cxorcist]

Originally Posted by Veruka Salt

The flight times are around 13 hr in winter. Flights have neither been going out at MTOW nor MZFW, so no particular performance penalties. It’s more a problem in summer if wet, 07R (or left), high temps, low QNH etc.

Impressive performance on that A350! Airbus=OPUD.

[MCDU2]

Reality is that CX face huge competition ex DUB. The ME3 all offer flights to their hubs. Emirates is twice daily. If you want a backpacker route to Oz/NZ you have the choice of one stop services via the ME3, CX or flying West to LAX and SFO availing of US preclearance in Dublin meaning you arrive as a domestic passenger and the layovers are generally only 3-4 hours before your flight to AKL/SYD/MEL/BNE etc. Finnair is also aggressively pushing its Hub as is Turkish, KLM, Lufty and LHR would still be a "traditional" stop for many Irish heading to Asia and further afield for those that don't mind an additional stop to save some coin.

[cxorcist]

Originally Posted by MCDU2

Reality is that CX face huge competition ex DUB. The ME3 all offer flights to their hubs. Emirates is twice daily. If you want a backpacker route to Oz/NZ you have the choice of one stop services via the ME3, CX or flying West to LAX and SFO availing of US preclearance in Dublin meaning you arrive as a domestic passenger and the layovers are generally only 3-4 hours before your flight to AKL/SYD/MEL/BNE etc. Finnair is also aggressively pushing its Hub as is Turkish, KLM, Lufty and LHR would still be a "traditional" stop for many Irish heading to Asia and further afield for those that don't mind an additional stop to save some coin.

CX are not after the budget, backpacker hub traffic. The O&D business travelers and cargo must not support the cost of operating the route. It happens (Düsseldorf). Perhaps a smaller aircraft (ie B788/9) could have made them profitable. I doubt the current events in HK are helping matters. There is also the question of being able to use that DUB A359 capacity elsewhere to make more (or lose less) money. I’m thinking of routes in Oz that still have A330 service.

[Peter47]

I would have thought that the bulk of the traffic would be originating from Ireland and most of it transiting to Australia / NZ and elsewhere in Asia. The winter would actually be the peak time for this traffic. However the political situation will be putting off stopover traffic when there are so many other options. And as cxorcist says, its not the highest yield traffic. (I have just flown UK - Oz return with SQ for £800, although it will certainly be a lot more around the Xmas period.) Besides, there are plenty of transfer options via LHR. Judging by the latest traffic reports there are plenty of spare seats on the route.