Cathay Pacific restarts Cairns-Hong Kong flights

Cathay Pacific’s Australian rebound continues this week, with the Oneworld member recommencing direct flights between Cairns and Hong Kong.

It’s a seasonal return for now, with three flights per week through to 28 February 2026 – a period spanning the Christmas holidays and the peak Lunar New Year period for the Year of the Horse.

Departing from Cairns every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday on an Airbus A330, the schedule is as follows:

• CX146 sees wheels up from Cairns at 11:25am, touching down in Hong Kong at 4:45pm
• CX147 jets off from Hong Kong the following day at 12:30am, arriving in Cairns at 9:55am

The A330 is fitted with 28 business class flat beds in a passenger-friendly 1-2-1 layout, followed by 265 seats in economy – however, on these older A330 jets there is no premium economy cabin.

Business class passengers, Cathay Diamond and Cathay Gold members on these and all other Cathay Pacific flights now enjoy free Wi-Fi, with paid plans from US$10 for one hour to US$13 for up to six hours, and US$20 for an entire flight (over six hours).

There’s also the flat-rate $5 alternative for a 3G connection through the inflight roaming options of Optus and Vodafone.

The Cairns-Hong Kong service is expected to inject an estimated $18 million into the local economy in visitor expenditure alone, and will also bolster valuable direct export channels from Queensland.

“Our Cairns seasonal service saw close to 16,000 customers travel between the two cities and beyond, including the UK, the Chinese mainland and elsewhere in Asia,” noted Frosti Lau, Cathay Regional General Manager for the Southwest Pacific.

“Bringing this service back will continue to encourage more tourism on both ends around Christmas and Lunar New Year. Equally as important is our freight support for local businesses where we proudly transport live seafood, fresh produce and more.”

One of Cathay’s recent innovations is a collaboration with Hong Kong’s The Coffee Academics to launch a bespoke coffee blend designed to be best at altitude, where profiles change as the senses of taste and smell are dulled.

This is now being served to all economy and premium economy passengers.

Also read: The 48-hour Hong Kong stopover guide andHow to experience Hong Kong like a local.