Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways has secured more regulatory approvals on its path to resuming services to Beijing after a more than 13-year absence.
The latest approvals came from Hong Kong's Economic Development and Labour Bureau, which formally designated the airline on the Hong Kong-Beijing route. Cathay initially intends to operate three weekly passenger services and three weekly freighter services to the Chinese capital from the final quarter of this year, after securing final operational approvals from Chinese authorities.
Cathay has not served mainland China since it bought into Hong Kong's second passenger carrier, Dragonair, and allowed that airline to focus on Chinese services in the early 1990s.
Last year, after Dragonair began competing on services to Taipei in Taiwan, Cathay applied for licences to operate to Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen in China.
Dragonair, which makes most of its money from services to the three cities and which is now controlled by Chinese interests, formally objected, prompting the Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) to hold public hearings. ATLA licences were secured by Cathay in April, although Dragonair has filed a legal challenge to have them revoked.
Source: Airline Business
