Cathay continues to grow its US footprint

Cathay Pacific continues to muscle up in North America with a new non-stop service to Seattle scheduled to start on March 31 next year. The new four-times-weekly route will make Seattle the Hong Kong carrier’s eight US destination and its 10^th in North America. The airline currently serves Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), New York (Newark), San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver.  It will add Washington, DC, to the roster from September 15. Seattle —  home to Boeing manufacturing facilities, Microsoft and Amazon —  is the US West Coast’s fastest growing city and a popular tourist destination. READ our reviews for Cathay Pacific. The city is celebrated for its food, spectacular scenery and attractions such as Pike Place Market and its iconic Space Needle as well as the Museum of Pop Culture  and the Museum of Flight Cathay will serve the city with one of its Airbus Boeing A350-900s as part of an expansion strategy to use the new aircraft to link Hong Kong with destinations not otherwise served. It has already announced nine new destinations this year. Cathay chief executive Rupert Hogg said Seattle would give the airline’s customers more convenience and choice. “There are strong business, trade and cultural ties between Hong Kong and the city and we believe there will be considerable demand for both business and leisure travel on this new route,’’ he said in the announcement. “We have developed a significant presence in the United States and the launch of Seattle not only reaffirms our commitment to the important North American market but also to strengthening Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s largest international aviation hub.” The new services will depart Hong Kong as CX858 on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sunday with flights returning as CX857 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Cathay’s A350s feature 38 business class seats in a 1-2-1 configuration as well as 28  premium economy seats and 214 in economy.