Hong Kong faces threat over hub status on kangaroo route
Competitive landscape on the flights to Australia has changed with the aggressive expansion of Middle East carriers in the market
Hong Kong used to be a major transit point for the kangaroo route between Europe and Australia, but the city is in danger of losing its shine as a hub for the extra-long flight with the rise of Middle East carriers in the Australian market.
Virgin Atlantic's decision to drop the Sydney-Hong Kong route from May and Qantas skipping the city for its Europe-bound service in March last year meant Cathay Pacific Airways would be the only airline serving the route via Hong Kong, which is also its headquarters.
"The role of Hong Kong as a transit hub for us has been changing," said Wyn Li, general manager in Hong Kong for Qantas. "It used to be a transit hub for European destinations such as London, Frankfurt and Paris for Qantas. But now, we would rather see Hong Kong as a transit point for the mainland or North Asia destinations."
The route was never short of competition. Singapore used to be the most important hub while Hong Kong and Bangkok were alternate stopover points.
The competitive landscape was never the same after Emirates started tapping the market aggressively six years ago.
The Dubai-based carrier swamped the market with up to two flights a day, deploying the large Airbus 380 to Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland from Dubai.
