Cathay Pacific re-establishing Vancouver and Hong Kong's strong links

Cathay Pacific airplanes at Hong Kong International Airport. (Shutterstock)

“Nothing says you’re open for business more than the lounge,” said Chris van den Hooven, the Senior Vice President of the Americas for Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific.

On the evening of June 16, 2023, the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) for the airline’s business and first class passengers and eligible OneWorld member passengers will finally reopen, after a years-long temporary closure since the early days of the pandemic.

It is part of Cathay Pacific’s efforts to gradually ramp up its reach and services globally, or as van den Hooven put it, they are “reconnecting Hong Kong to the world.”

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Currently, Cathay Pacific operates seven to eight round-trip flights per week or one to two flights per day between YVR and Hong Kong International Airport (HKG).

On Thursday, at an event at Cathay Pacific’s YVR lounge, van den Hooven told Daily Hive the frequencies serving YVR are expected to be relatively constant until the end of 2023.

He anticipates that sometime in 2024, the airline will further increase its frequencies for Vancouver, but this has not been finalized.

Just prior to the pandemic, Cathay Pacific operated at least 14 round-trip flights per week or two to three times per day, making it one of YVR’s most frequent and highest capacity non-US international services.

Globally, he says, Cathay Pacific has now recovered to just over 50% of its pre-pandemic service levels. They will reach 70% by the end of 2023, and 100% by the end of 2024.

More destinations and flights are being reinstated every month, and they are looking to reinvest in their products in services in the air and on the ground, noting that they have “some catching up to do.”

cathay pacific lounge vancouver international airport yvr

Ribbon cutting on June 8, 2023 celebrating the reopening of the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Cathay Pacific was last out of the gate amongst major global airlines with starting the recovery process, as Hong Kong and Mainland China were also amongst the last jurisdictions in the world to unwind from strict health safety and travel regulations — a process that did not begin until late 2022. On April 1, 2023, Hong Kong finally removed all remaining pandemic-related travel restrictions.

“We know a lot of the other carriers had a year-and-a-half to two years of a head start on us, but we’re well on our way,” he said.

Van den Hooven told Daily Hive it is a huge ongoing exercise to ramp up their operations towards pre-pandemic levels. Over 70% of their aircraft fleet were put in storage in Hong Kong and Alice Springs in Australia.

“To reactivate an aircraft after it has been in storage for a number of years is a massive undertaking. Everything has to be re-certified including the airframe, the power plant, and of course the pilots,” he said.

“We have the aircraft and the pilots, but it’s the certification process that is preventing us from ramping up any quicker. We can only go as fast as the certification allows us. We never compromise safety, of course.”

Cathay Pacific Airbus A350 at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Seating areas at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

The scheduled reopening of Cathay Pacific’s lounge at YVR comes just a month after the airline marked its 40th anniversary of operating in the Americas. That first service in 1983 reaching North America was to Vancouver, where Cathay Pacific began operating two direct, non-stop flights per week, which was considered groundbreaking at the time. It was also the first airline to connect Hong Kong and Vancouver with a direct, non-stop service, made possible by the Boeing 747.

That same year, staffed by 26 employees, Cathay Pacific opened its first Vancouver ticket office on downtown Vancouver’s “airline row” at 1018 West Georgia Street — a retail unit now occupied by the Cafe Club coffee shop, just across the street from the Royal Bank office building.

YVR was Cathay Pacific’s only North American destination for years, until it launched new services to Los Angeles in 1990, Toronto in 1994, New York City in 2004, Chicago O’Hare in 2011, Newark in 2013, Boston in 2015, Washington Dulles in 2018, and Seattle in 2019. It expanded to San Francisco in 1986 through a stop at YVR, which was later replaced in 1998 by a standalone direct, non-stop service.

Cathay Pacific aircraft at Hong Kong International Airport. (Shutterstock)

Between 1996 and 2019, Cathay Pacific also previously operated the popular fifth-freedom service of daily round-trip flights between HKG and New York City via a stop at YVR.

There are, of course, extraordinary cultural and economic ties between Hong Kong and Vancouver, with Cathay Pacific historically playing a key role in establishing the close links and strong immigration flows between these cities, and helping YVR position itself as a predominant TransPacific hub on the West Coast of the Americas.

The Americas is now one of the airline’s largest markets outside of Hong Kong, based on revenue.

In 2016, Cathay Pacific opened its new concept YVR lounge experience, which is a complete replacement and an expansion of the airline’s previous first class and business class lounge located elsewhere at the airport.

Van den Hooven describes the new YVR lounge as “a miniature version of what we offer in Hong Kong.”

The 5,500 sq ft lounge on an upper level near Gate D70 offers a luxurious experience within an inviting and relaxing environment, created from the use of warm, natural materials such as cherry wood walls and limestone flooring, and the natural light that floods the space through the expansive windows.

Seating areas at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

There is a wide range of comfortable seating options, along with spa-like private washrooms with a shower and the expected accompanying amenities and toiletries.

As food is central to Hong Kong’s culture, the lounge provides a taste of it, making food a key feature of the lounge experience. Chefs behind the signature noodle bar offer a selection of dishes, including wonton noodle soup, dan dan noodle soup, authentic Hong Kong-style fish ball noodle soup, a range of dim sum, and all-day breakfast and burger options. Other highlights include “The Pantry” area of cold cuts, cheeses, salad, international hot foods, fruits, desserts, wines, spirits, and non-alcoholic beverages.

The airline’s YVR lounge is open four hours before scheduled flight departures.

Cathay Pacific’s lounge at YVR is just one of a handful of Cathay Pacific-operated and branded airport lounges in the world outside of Asia. Its only other lounge in the Americas is located at San Francisco International Airport, which is expected to reopen sometime later this year.

Dim sum at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Hot food area at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Digital sign displaying flights and hot food area at the Cathay Pacific lounge at Vancouver International Airport. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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