Cathay Pacific Network Extends to Latin America

Cathay Pacific Network Extends to Latin America With New LAN Code-Share Service

Cathay Pacific Airways today announced that Santiago, the capital city of Chile, will be added to its network as a result of a new code-share arrangement with oneworld partner LAN, one of Latin America’s leading airlines.

Under the new arrangement, effective from 17 May, Cathay Pacific will put its “CX” code on LAN flights between Santiago and three key gateway cities: Auckland, Los Angeles and New York. At the same time, LAN’s “LA” code will go on Cathay Pacific’s flights between Hong Kong and Auckland, Los Angeles and New York.

The code-share arrangement with LAN marks the first time for Cathay Pacific to have a presence in the Latin American market – a move which will offer travellers more choice and greater connectivity through the Hong Kong hub.

Flight schedules and Auckland’s geographic location means that the fastest routing between Hong Kong and Santiago will be via Auckland. The fact that New Zealand does not require transit passengers from many countries to obtain visas will also make travelling via Auckland an attractive proposition between South America and Hong Kong and Asia.

As the service between Auckland and Santiago will be operated by Cathay Pacific’s oneworld partner, LAN, Cathay Pacific will not have traffic rights on this sector and therefore will not be able to sell seats for the Auckland-Santiago sector only.

Many passengers already connect between South America and Hong Kong, using the service of Cathay Pacific, and Cathay Pacific expects the number of passengers to increase significantly.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: “Latin America is an untapped market for our passenger business and we see it as offering great potential. We are very pleased to be able to offer this new code-share service with our oneworld partner LAN, which serves to highlight the benefits the alliance brings to its airline members and the travelling public alike.”

LAN Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Enrique Cueto said: “LAN is pleased to announce this new step forward in our relationship with Cathay Pacific, one of the most respected and prestigious airlines in Asia. The initiative brings significant benefits to our customers, providing efficient connections between Latin America and Asia, expanding options for tourists and business travellers alike while contributing to the growing trade and business relations between the two continents.”

David Figgins, Cathay Pacific’s Country Manager for New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, said that although the new code-share did not specifically affect Cathay Pacific in New Zealand, it would be of great benefit to New Zealand that Cathay Pacific worldwide will be promoting the Auckland route as part of the new service between South America and Asia.

Said Mr Figgins: “Adding more passengers and highlighting New Zealand’s strategic location between South America and Asia will increase the number of passengers on the Auckland-Hong Kong flights and will in the longer term help to increase capacity on the route.”

Cathay Pacific Airways and LAN are both full members of oneworld, the leading global airline alliance. As part of a range of oneworld benefits, passengers travelling with both carriers can already earn and redeem frequent flyer rewards across each other's networks and gain access to partner airline lounges.

ENDS

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