summary
- Hong Kong and Taipei were historically important routes due to travel restrictions in China and Taiwan.
- From 2004 to 2010, there were an average of 40 widebody flights each day.
- It’s still a huge market, but it’s not as exciting as it used to be.
Can the route be exciting? I think so. The question is, what excites it? It usually works well for many widebody flights and short distance flights. In both cases, Hong Kong and Taipei fit the bill, as they are only 436 nautical miles (807 km) apart.
Between 2004 and 2010, average Based on results using all days of 40 daily widebody services. Kirium data. The maximum number of daily one-way flights was 51, and the lowest was 28, with narrow-body flights leading the way.
Hong Kong-Taipei: an important role
Passenger flights between China and Taiwan have been banned for years, forcing passengers to make alternate stops along the way. Since most people traveled via Hong Kong, there were many flights on such large aircraft. Freight, often forgotten, also played an important role.
With the start of direct flights between China and Taiwan, Hong Kong’s role has inevitably diminished. Initially, only charter flights were allowed, and regular flights began in 2009. In 2009, the number of seats on direct flights between China and Taiwan was 3.7 million, which increased to 13.5 million in 2019.
Don’t get me wrong. With many flights operating each day, it remains a very important market for point-to-point demand and passengers transferring to other flights, including to China.
This week’s most notable new airline routes
The route is at the heart of airlines and airports, and I celebrate it in my weekly newsletter.
Example date: April 13, 2009
This article was researched and written on April 16, 2024. Example of activity, April 13, 2009. There were 46 one-way passenger flights between Hong Kong and Taipei that day, all on wide-body aircraft. This was unusual since narrow-body aircraft were also frequently used.
According to Cirium’s schedule, the airport is the second-busiest in the world in terms of daily twin-aisle flights, surpassed only by Tokyo/Haneda-Sapporo (49).
One day 15 years ago, five airlines were operating passenger flights between Hong Kong and Taipei: Cathay Pacific (19 flights each way), China Airlines (12 flights), EVA Air (10 flights), and Dragon. Airlines (4 flights), Thai Airways (1 flight); Fifth Freedom). Dragonair was later renamed Cathay Dragon and even later incorporated into Cathay’s operations.
12 Asian airlines that have ceased operating U.S. passenger flights since 2004
Besides a career in images, what else do you think has taken over the past 20 years?
46 widebody flights: April 13, 2009
A breakdown of the 46 widebody flights per day shows that the Boeing 747 departed seven times from Cathay Pacific, China Airlines and EVA Air. Not bad for a route less than 500 nautical miles. However, on two flights he was dominated by A330s, which operated more than one flight.
In the table below, notice how close together the departure times are, even for the same airline. In Cathay’s case, this was due to the fact that it continued to operate elsewhere.
Aircraft/Derivatives | One-way flight: April 13, 2009 | Departure time from Hong Kong (airline) |
|---|---|---|
A330-300 | 17 | 08:15 (Dragon Air), 09:10 (Cathay Pacific, continuing to Nagoya), 11:30 (China Airlines), 12:05 (Dragon Air), 12:50 (China Airlines), 13:15 (Cathay Pacific, continued) to Osaka/Kansai), 13:25 (China Airlines), 14:25 (Cathay Pacific, to Seoul Incheon), 14:30 (China Airlines), 14:55 (Cathay Pacific) Air, to Fukuoka), 15:35 (China Airlines), 17:35 (China Airlines), 18:10 (Dragon Airlines), 18:35 (China Airlines), 20:05 (China Airlines), 20:25 (Thai Airways), 20:55 (Dragon Air) |
777-300 | 12 | 08:35 (Cathay Pacific), 12:30 (Cathay Pacific), 13:30 (Cathay Pacific), 15:55 (Cathay Pacific), 16:50 (Cathay Pacific), 17:45 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 18:00 00 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 18:20 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 19:00 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 19:55 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 21:15 (Cathay Pacific Airways), 23:00 (Cathay Pacific) |
A330-200 | Seven | 12:00 (EVA Air), 13:45 (EVA Air), 19:25 (EVA Air), 21:00 (EVA Air), 21:40 (EVA Air), 22:20 (EVA Air), 22: 00 50 (EVA Air) |
747-400 | four | 00:10 (!; China Airlines), 10:00 (Cathay Pacific. Continue to Tokyo/Narita), 10:25 (China Airlines), 19:20 (China Airlines) |
747-400 Combi | three | 11:10 (EVA Air), 15:30 (EVA Air), 17:05 (EVA Air) |
A340-300 | two | 18:40 (Cathay Pacific), 21:25 (China Airlines) |
777-200 | One | 22:15 (Cathay Pacific) |
I have flown this route several times over the years. If you have experience, please share your experience in the comments section.
