Hong Kong-based carrier Cathay Pacific has announced plans to launch four weekly flights to Abu Dhabi, starting from June 2. This is the airline's second UAE destination after Dubai.

The Abu Dhabi service will be operated by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with departures to and from Abu Dhabi on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, said a statement from Cathay Pacific.

The flight CX683 will leave HK airport at 12.30am midnight and arrive in Abu Dhabi International airport at 04.50am. On return, CX682 will leave Abu Dhabi International airport at 06.10pm and arrive in Hong Kong at 0600+1.

The HK carrier has been serving the UAE market for more than 30 years, and currently offers a double daily operation to and from Dubai.

With the addition of Abu Dhabi, the airline expects to offer even better services to cater for increasing business and leisure demand for travel between the UAE, Hong Kong and other destinations in the Asia Pacific region.

Cathay Pacific chief executive Tony Tyler said: “We are extremely excited about being able to expand our network in 2011 with new services to Abu Dhabi and Chicago.'

'We already have a significant presence in both the Middle East and the US, and these new destinations will help to meet demand for both business and leisure travel to and from Hong Kong. The continued expansion of our network highlights our commitment to boosting our home city’s role as one of the world’s great international aviation hubs.”

According to him, Hong Kong serves as a major gateway to the Asia Pacific region.

'The new service from Abu Dhabi will enable customers from UAE and other parts of the Middle East to enjoy the benefits of Cathay Pacific’s smooth connectivity through Hong Kong to all major countries and territories in the region, including Mainland China, the Philippines, Korea, Japan and Taiwan in the Far-East and Australia and New Zealand in the Southwest Pacific region,' he added.

The airline also announced a further expansion of its network in North America with a daily flight to Chicago launching on September 1, 2011 and a strengthening of its services to two key destinations – New York and Toronto.

With the launch of these two new services, Cathay Pacific will serve a total of 50 online passenger destinations, the statement added.-TradeArabia News Service