The two-hour and 30-minute flight will touch down near the shores of Taihu and open the door to experience the charm of Jiangnan’s classic water towns. 

Travellers can also take the high-speed rail to connect with Shanghai and other nearby cities (one-hour trips), or book open-jaw flights to explore Wuxi and Changzhou in a single trip.

To celebrate the launch, the airline is offering a limited-time flash sale to kick-start the Chinese Mainland tour with one-way Ultra Lite fares to all Chinese Mainland destinations starting from just HKD68, bookable on the airline’s website.

The airline will operate a daily round-trip flight deploying a 180-seat Airbus A320 on the route with a flight time of two hours and 30 minutes between Hong Kong (HKG) and Wuxi Sunan Shuofang Airport (WUX). It marks the airline’s seventh destination in the Chinese Mainland.

Flight schedule

Yangtze River Delta Expansion: This route strengthens the carrier’s presence in the region, joining existing services to Ningbo, Shaxian, Beijing (Daxing), Sanya, and Nanjing. (Plus regional spots like Changzhou and Yiwu).

Market Competition: HK Express enters a market already served by full-service carriers such as  Shenzhen Airlines, offering a low-cost alternative for travellers heading to Wuxi from Hong Kong using a 164-seat Boeing 737-800.

The service will run daily through 24 October 24, 2026, marking the end of the summer flight timetable.

(Source: HK Express plus additional reporting)

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HKIA stood out among airports worldwide to win “Best Airport in the World” at the Global Travel Awards 2026.

The nomination list comprised leading airports worldwide. The award is based on votes cast by millions of travellers globally, recognising organisations that demonstrate excellence in aviation infrastructure and passenger experience.

In addition, HKIA has been named by Skytrax as the winner of “World’s Best Airport Security Processing” and “World’s Best Airport Washrooms” at the 2026 World Airport Awards, recognising its steadfast dedication to enhancing passenger experience, ensuring aviation safety and delivering service excellence.

These awards underscore HKIA’s commitment to maintaining rigorous security standards while actively leveraging innovative technologies to deliver an efficient and seamless passenger experience. HKIA has fully automated security gates, immigration channels and boarding gates through facial recognition, and is currently undertaking a comprehensive upgrade of security screening channels across all areas, replacing traditional X-ray channels with CT-driven screening. The forthcoming Terminal 2 will also incorporate this proven efficiency enhancement, alongside other passenger-facility upgrades.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK), Chief Executive Officer Vivian Cheung, remarked: “We are truly honoured to receive the best airport awards across such a wide range of areas, which reflect the dedication and collective efforts of the entire Hong Kong International Airport community. We continue to expand our air network for both passenger and cargo traffic, with a view to reinforcing Hong Kong’s role as the hub of Asia. Looking ahead, the SKYTOPIA development will transform HKIA into an Airport City, creating a dynamic destination that inspires travel, drives connectivity and welcomes the world to Hong Kong.”

(Source: AAHK)

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Operating five times per week, the new service extends the airline’s passenger network in North America to nine destinations.

As part of Cathay’s 80th-anniversary celebrations, the inaugural Hong Kong-Seattle flight was operated by the airline’s special-edition Airbus A350 aircraft, featuring its iconic “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery, honouring eight decades of moving its home city, people and customers forward since 1946.

Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “As we celebrate ‘80 Years Together’ and connect Hong Kong with the world, the launch of our Seattle service highlights the deepening ties between two global centres of innovation, culture, and commerce. 

“Through the Cathay Group’s investment of well over HKD100 billion into our fleet, cabin products, lounges and digital innovation, we are committed to offering customers a seamless and elevated travel experience, whether they are travelling to Hong Kong or connecting to onward destinations through our global network covering more than 100 destinations worldwide. This new service not only enhances connectivity for business and leisure travellers, but also reinforces our role in supporting Hong Kong’s position as a leading international aviation hub.”

Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong-Seattle service uses an Airbus A350-900 aircraft, configured with business class, premium economy, and economy cabins. Flight schedules are as follows:

30 March – 31 May 2026; 16 September – 24 October 2026

This summer, Cathay Pacific is operating close to 120 return flights per week to nine passenger destinations across North America, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

(Source: Cathay Pacific)

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These new sailings replace the previous three-night Sanya itineraries, offering guests the opportunity to explore two destinations in a single voyage, combining cultural discovery with scenic coastal experiences.

Departing on 12 and 19 April and 10 May 2026, these limited sailings will take travellers to the port city of Kaohsiung and the island paradise of Penghu — an increasingly sought-after destination.

What makes this journey especially appealing is the ease and convenience of cruising from Hong Kong with StarCruises. With no airport queues and no need for constant packing and unpacking, guests can step onboard and enjoy a seamless journey between destinations.

From the energetic cityscape of Kaohsiung to the relaxed island charm of Penghu, the itinerary brings two contrasting experiences together in one voyage.

Bookings for the three-night Kaohsiung–Penghu cruise opened on 1 April 2026.

(Source: StarCruises)

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For tickets purchased in Hong Kong, the surcharge rises from HKD541 to HKD725. Charges vary according to where the tickets are purchased.

According to the latest price data published by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the global average jet fuel price increased to USD197.00 per barrel for the week ending 20 March 2026, increasing from USD157.41 per barrel for the week ending 6 March 2026 and USD95.95 per barrel for the week ending 20 February 2026.

In its statement announcing surcharge adjustments, the airline said fuel accounted for approximately 30% of its total operating costs in 2025 and is critical to operations.

To enable a more agile response to volatile jet fuel prices, the airline will review and revise the fuel surcharge every two weeks to better capture upward or downward movements in jet fuel prices. 

The increased frequency of the reviews is intended as a temporary measure and will be revisited when the Middle East situation stabilises.

A fuel surcharge is included on all Cathay Pacific tickets. The surcharge is charged on a per-flight-sector basis, irrespective of fare type. It is included in the fare quoted on all of the airline’s direct channels.

Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific adds additional flights and increases seat capacity on flights to Europe, effective from 26 March, to cater for an upsurge in market demand for direct flights following the ongoing situation in the Middle East.

Cathay Pacific will operate extra passenger flights to London, Paris and Zurich, and will also add additional capacity to London during April.

(Source: Cathay Pacific)

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It followed Hong Kong’s successful hosting of The World’s 50 Best Bars” Award Ceremony in 2025.

Top local Cantonese restaurant The Chairman and contemporary Cantonese restaurant Wing secured first and second places respectively on the Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026 list, once again highlighting the leading position of Hong Kong’s dining scene in Asia.

HKTB Chairman Dr Peter Lam said: “This international award recognises the outstanding achievements of the culinary sector. I am very proud of Hong Kong’s remarkable accomplishments in this year’s Awards. Together with the ‘MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau 2026’ and ‘The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide’, over 200 restaurants have been listed in these internationally acclaimed gourmet guides, reaffirming Hong Kong’s position as a “Culinary Capital” in Asia. We are delighted to welcome the esteemed Asian chefs and other culinary professionals attending the Awards Ceremony to Hong Kong, and we warmly invite everyone to explore the city’s unique and diverse gastronomic charm by following the master chefs’ curated recommendations featured in the citywide ‘Taste Hong Kong’ Gourmet Guide.”

Danny Yip, owner of The Chairman, said: “Being named The Best Restaurant in Asia for the second time is a huge honour for our entire team, and to achieve it here in Hong Kong makes it even more meaningful. This recognition — as well as the strong results on this year’s list — reflects the depth and diversity that define Hong Kong’s dining culture today. It’s a privilege to represent our city in this way and to continue sharing the traditions and stories that shape our cuisine.”

Hong Kong leads Asia’s culinary landscape with two restaurants in the top three.

Together with the previously announced extended list of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants (51 to 100), a total of 10 Hong Kong restaurants were recommended in the Asian edition of the prestigious list. These included six restaurants in the top 50: while The Chairman and Wing topped the list in first and second spots, Neighborhood (24), Estro (32), Caprice (35), and Mono (46) stayed strong on the list. 

Four other restaurants were also featured in the extended list, namely Ta Vie (68), Vea (70), Andō (88), and Amber (90).

In the recently announced “Black Pearl Restaurant Guide”, the number of Hong Kong entries increased to 39, up from last year, including four first-time entries – Mosu Hong Kong, founded by three-Michelin-star South Korean chef Sung Anh; Jee, a Cantonese-French fusion restaurant; contemporary Indian restaurant Leela, and Cantonese fine-dining establishment Man Ho Chinese Restaurant. In addition, homegrown chef Vicky Cheng of Chinese-French restaurant VEA, and Terry Ho, Chef de Cuisine of French restaurant Amber, received the Master Chef Award and the Young Chef Award, respectively, in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, affirming the distinguished reputation of Hong Kong’s culinary talent in the Asian dining scene. In the “MICHELIN Guide Hong Kong Macau 2026”, more Hong Kong establishments were awarded MICHELIN stars than in the previous year, bringing the total to 77 Michelin-starred restaurants in one destination, further demonstrating the world-class standard of the city’s culinary scene.

(Source: HKTB)

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This has been made possible through the use of parent company Alibaba’s consumer-facing application Qwen App, which is available to users in China and experienced over 200 million AI-native shopping orders during the recent Chinese Spring Festival campaign.

As a result, during the Spring Festival period, Fliggy’s overall AI orders increased by 800% — with attraction ticket bookings proving the most popular use case and orders soaring more than 24-fold. Meanwhile, conversion rates for air,  train and attraction tickets have become comparable to those of OTAs with decades of experience.

Fliggy Chief Technology Officer Alex Chen comments: “After launching a suite of AI travel‑planning products in 2025, our AI interface has moved closer to fulfilment, evolving from planning support to enabling actual booking fulfilment.

“Alibaba’s AI-native application, Qwen, can now integrate core services across Alibaba’s ecosystem — including Fliggy, Taobao, Taobao Instant Commerce, Alipay and Amap. Leveraging this capability, Fliggy is leading the shift: consumers can now use natural language to ask the AI to complete travel bookings on their behalf, while travel is increasingly integrated into more lifestyle scenarios, such as shopping, food delivery, and booking cinema tickets.

“Already consumers are moving from using AI just for search to actually using AI to execute tasks — we are pleased to see that dozens of forward-thinking destinations and major travel brands have already partnered with Fliggy to explore potential AI collaborations to be a part of this shift.” 

Late last year, Fliggy adopted a multi-agent approach to building AI-powered products to prepare for the shift from ‘online travel agencies’ to ‘omni-intelligent travel agents’.

About Fliggy

Fliggy was founded in 2016 and is one of China’s leading travel platforms. The company provides merchants with a B2C platform that reaches consumers directly, and also distributes products through B2B channels.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alibaba Group. As such, travel suppliers selling via Fliggy benefit from the vast user base of the Alibaba ecosystem, including an active consumer base in China of over 1 billion users and its digital infrastructure, efficiency tools, and vast marketing reach.

(Source: Fliggy)

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Adyen is now providing direct acquiring services for the airline in markets including Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, and most recently, India.

Adyen’s partnership with Cathay Pacific, which began in 2014, has evolved from its initial scope to become a core component of the airline’s global commerce strategy. With the successful implementation of direct acquiring in Cathay Pacific’s key markets, this expansion underscores Adyen’s role as a strategic growth partner, using direct acquiring capabilities to increase authorisation rates, reduce payment fees, and unlock new revenue.

Notably, with the recent rollout in India, Adyen’s acquiring solution ensures performance. Since its implementation, Cathay Pacific has achieved a 10% increase in authorisation rates.

(Source: Adyen)

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Hong Kong Sevens 2026

Rugby icons and party anthems take centre stage at the Hong Kong Sevens 2026, 17–19 April 2026, Kai Tak Stadium

One of the world’s most iconic annual sporting spectacles returns in 2026 as the Hong Kong Sevens celebrates its 50th anniversary. For its second edition at the state-of-the-art Kai Tak Stadium, the tournament promises three days of 72 rugby games between 30 of the world’s top teams, including Hong Kong China Men and Women’s 7s stars who will defend their Melrose Claymores titles.

2026 UCI Track World Cup, Hong Kong, China

Elite cyclists compete for global ranking points at the 2026 UCI Track World Cup, Hong Kong, China, 17–19 April 2026, Hong Kong Velodrome. 

Cycling fans can witness world-class competition at the 2026 UCI Track World Cup in Hong Kong, the second round of the prestigious international track cycling series.  

Held at the Hong Kong Velodrome, the event will bring together elite national teams competing across Olympic track cycling disciplines. As one of the most important events on the international cycling calendar — alongside the World Championships and Olympic Games — the competition offers riders valuable World Ranking points. The Hong Kong round is expected to attract nearly 400 professional cyclists from around 40 countries and regions, promising a thrilling showcase of speed, strategy and endurance.

A day at the races

Champions Day brings world-class horse racing to Sha Tin, 26 April 2026, Sha Tin Racecourse. 

Another standout moment in Hong Kong’s racing calendar is Champions Day, a major international meet that attracts top contenders from across the globe.  

The event features three elite Group 1 races, bringing together world-class horses and jockeys to compete against Hong Kong’s finest thoroughbreds. For racing fans, it offers a rare chance to see hometown champions — including Romantic Warrior, Voyage Bubble, and Ka Ying Rising — defend their reputations against global challengers on home turf. The combination of elite racing and a charged race-day atmosphere makes Champions Day a can’t-miss spectacle for visitors and locals alike. 

(Source: Hong Kong Tourism Board)

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“As customers prioritise alternative travel routes due to airspace closures in the Middle East, we have added extra flights to London and provided additional capacity to Zurich in March to cater for a surge in demand for Europe.

We are monitoring the situation closely and will remain agile in our response,” Lau explained as part of the group’s Traffic Performance Statement for February 2026.

Cathay Group delivered a positive performance during the first two months of 2026, with the solid momentum seen in January continuing into February, driven by the Lunar New Year travel peak. 

“In addition to setting a new single-day passenger record by carrying around 128,000 passengers as a Group on 14 February, our passenger airlines Cathay Pacific and HK Express together carried more than 3.2 million passengers during the month, up 24% from the same period last year.”

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific carried 24% more passengers in February 2026 compared with February 2025, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) increased by 16%. In the first two months of 2026, the number of passengers carried increased by 17% compared with the same period in 2025.

Lau said: “During the Lunar New Year holidays, we saw particularly strong outbound travel demand from Hong Kong and the rest of the Greater Bay Area, with short-haul destinations being the most popular. Meanwhile, inbound traffic to Hong Kong also recorded healthy growth, supported by demand from long-haul markets and the Chinese Mainland.

Business travel rebounded quickly towards the end of the month, resulting in robust load factors in our premium cabins.

“Looking ahead, bookings remain robust for the rest of March, driven by leisure travel across Asia. We also look forward to launching our new five-times-weekly Seattle service on 30 March, further strengthening the connectivity of the Hong Kong international aviation hub.” ​

Cathay Cargo

Cathay Cargo carried 7% more cargo in February 2026 than in February 2025, while Available Freight Tonne Kilometres (AFTKs) increased by 4%. ​ In the first two months of 2026, the total tonnage increased by 6% compared with the same period in 2025.

Cargo tonnage in February declined against the previous month due to the Lunar New Year holidays. We saw a pre-holiday rush across our home market and the wider Greater Bay Area, followed by softer demand later in the month. 

“Turning to March, overall air cargo demand is expected to improve as we ramp up our scheduled freighter frequencies in preparation for the quarter end.”

HK Express

HK Express carried more than 730,000 passengers in February 2026, an increase of 25% year on year, while Available Seat Kilometres (ASKs) grew by 14%. ​ In the first two months of 2026, the number of passengers carried increased by 16% compared with the same period in 2025.

Buoyed by Lunar New Year traffic, HK Express achieved a load factor of 86% in February, with its South Korea routes the most popular. The low-cost airline also saw a significant increase in demand to Malaysia and the Chinese Mainland, which outpaced capacity growth. Looking ahead, bookings remain healthy in March, with demand outpacing capacity increase compared with last year.

Passenger traffic performance February 2026

(Source: Cathay Group)

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