A signage for Cathay Pacific Airways at the departures hall of Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, on March 8, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
More than 4,000 free round-trip tickets from the United States and Canada to Hong Kong offered by Cathay Pacific Airways were snapped up in two and a half hours on Thursday, pointing to a vigorous recovery in summer travel.
Hong Kong is among the preferred stopover sites for travelers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with around 14 million travelers departing from Hong Kong International Airport each year before the pandemic
The airline, earlier this month, announced the details of its World of Winners campaign for North America, with 2,890 free round-trip tickets from the United States and 1,555 tickets from Canada to Hong Kong being available from May 18 to May 24. Due to the buoyant demand, however, the giveaway campaign ended less than three hours after it started this morning, Cathay Pacific Airways told China Daily Hong Kong.
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The latest figures released by Cathay Pacific show that the airline carried more than 1.3 million passengers in April, a year-on-year increase of nearly 33 times. It saw strong demand over the Easter holidays in early April, when the number of passengers carried on a single day reached 53,200, a new high since the COVID-19 pandemic measures were dropped.
Also, Hong Kong Airlines officially launched its Buy One Get One Free campaign on Thursday, with average airfares as low as HK$290 ($37).
Joining hands with online travel agencies including Ctrip, Fliggy, TravelGo and Qunar, Hong Kong Airlines introduced the offer to enable travelers to book two tickets departing Hong Kong for the price of one.
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The campaign, covering popular Asian travel destinations such as Bangkok in Thailand, Osaka in Japan and Bali in Indonesia, runs from May 18 to May 31, with tickets available for travel between May 29 and October 26, 2023. The airfares range from HK$580 to HK$1,780.
Hong Kong is among the preferred stopover sites for travelers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with around 14 million travelers departing from Hong Kong International Airport each year before the pandemic.
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With Hong Kong International Airport-provided express ferry services, Greater Bay Area passengers can board their flights upon arrival without having to go through entry formalities in Hong Kong. Four express ferry terminals, including Shekou in Shenzhen and Pazhou in Guangzhou, are currently open to the public, which is expected to encourage Greater Bay Area residents to participate in the giveaway activities.
Ctrip data indicate that, as of May 16, the number of air ticket bookings from the Chinese mainland for the summer holiday has surpassed that of the same period in 2019, and Hong Kong is the top destination outside the mainland.