Carry on: Chinese New Year fills seats, expands routes

Passenger records tumble at Cathay Pacific
Chinese New Year has become a big earner for the airline and travel industries. Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific, which has been operating double daily flights to Auckland since December, says it has had 100% loading this month. Last Saturday, February 14, Cathay and sister airline Dragonair boarded a record 107,552 passengers, exceeding the previous record of 104,183 on January 4. Cathay expects those records to fall on February 22 and 28 with bookings already exceeding 110,000 on February 22. The two airlines are mounting 100 extra sectors (or 57 flight pairs) during the holiday period, which ends on March 1.

China Southern expands flights to Auckland
China Southern Airlines has been running a double daily service from Guangzhou to Auckland through the holiday season, as well special Chinese New Year charters to Christchurch from last weekend using Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. China Southern has now announced it will be extending the double-daily Auckland service to a year-round schedule from August, also using 787s.

Fiji Airways puts on Chinese New Year flights
Fiji Airways is running three round trips to Shanghai during Chinese New Year The first Nadi-Shanghai Pu Dong flew last Friday with another yesterday, using its Airbus A330 aircraft. The final flight will on February 25. Fiji Airways is also planning to commence a nonstop link to Solomon Islands, with Saturday-only Nadi-Honiara operation from April 4 using Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The airline already operates a once weekly Nadi-Port Vila-Honiara service on Tuesdays.

Qatar expands South Africa routes
Qatar Airways has announced a major expansion in South Africa with the launch of a new destination Durban while simultaneously increasing its weekly frequencies to Johannesburg. The airline will also increase its weekly frequency to Cape Town, going up from five flights a week to a daily service from December 17. Four new weekly flights to Durban via Johannesburg will bring the total frequency to Johannesburg up from 10 weekly flights to a double-daily service. From October 1, Qatar will be operating daily flights to Cape Town ahead of the busy 2015/16 winter travel season, an increase from five weekly flights this winter. All three routes will be operated with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.