Cathay Pacific Launches HK > Dublin Flights

On 2 June a new direct flight from Dublin to Hong Kong, operated by Cathay Pacific, will take to the skies. Ten days later on 12 June, Hainan Airlines will launch its Dublin-Beijing route.

It’s the culmination of considerable effort and lobbying by the Irish diplomatic and business communities here to deepen links with China as its vast economy expands.

"The growing numbers of Irish tourists, students, business people and other travellers living and spending time in China will not only benefit from the non-stop services to Beijing and Hong Kong," says Ireland’s Ambassador to China Eoin O’Leary, "but also from the numerous connections that the airlines offer throughout China and the wider Asia-Pacific region".

About the Hong Kong flights starting on Saturday, he said: "These direct flights will open up many new opportunities between Ireland and Hong Kong across many sectors, including in financial services, education, food, beverages and culture."

At the Aberdeen Fishmarket in Hong Kong, crates of groupers, sea urchins, flatfish and shellfish are being loaded onto trucks for distribution across the city.

Among them, there’s a box of razor clams marked Glenmar Shellfish Ltd., all the way from Dublin Bay.

Juan Blanes is sales and marketing director for the company based in Dublin. They currently fly their live products to China via hubs in the Middle East using refrigeration to counteract the heat. The direct flight will only work for them if the price is right.

"Our competitors in Scotland, England and Wales will have the same species available and we compete with them in the same marketplaces. They have plenty of flight options from London.

"So while the direct flight out of Ireland sounds like a great thing and it is a great thing," he said, "many of our competitors have been working with direct flights for a long time."

At first glance, Hong Kong with its high population density and sweltering tropical climate might not appear to have much in common with Ireland.

But the two places have some interesting parallels. They are relatively open economies with a similar GDP (around $330bn) standing at the foothills of a giant market - China in the case of Hong Kong and the Eurozone for Ireland.

Ireland and Hong Kong also share a deep love of horse-racing.

https://www.rte.ie/news/special-reports/2018/0531/967306-transport-air-travel-china-flights/