Hong Kong planning to launch flights to Los Angeles this December

Hong Kong Airlines has announced its plans to launch new flights to Los Angeles later this year. Hong Kong’s flagship carrier is though yet to confirm the exact date of the launch of new route to the United States, but media reports quoting the airline’s Vice-Chairman Tang King-shing said that an application has been submitted for mid-to late-December approval.

According to the reports, Hong Kong Airlines is looking forward to begin flights to Los Angeles from Hong Kong effective from December 15, 2017 after the application is finally approved. With the launch of the service, Los Angeles is also set to become the airline’s first destination in the United States. It may be noted that Hong Kong Airlines had launched its new flights to Vancouver in June this year.

Hong Kong Airlines has also revealed the flight schedule of the yet-to-be-launched Hong Kong-Los Angeles route. According to the airline, Flight HK068 will depart from Hong Kong International Airport at 12:10 hours and arrive in Los Angeles International Airport at 08:55 hours local time. The return Flight HK069 will make its departure from Los Angeles at 10:45 hours and arrive in Hong Kong at 18:20 hours local time next day.

The new Hong Kong-Los Angeles route is expected to be served with the help of a new Airbus A350 aircraft, which will be also be the airline’s first such aircraft to be served on the route. However, Hong Kong Airlines is yet to confirm the aircraft it plans to operate on this route. It may be noted that the airline has placed an order for a total of 15 Airbus A350 aircrafts, and is scheduled to receive at least three of the aircrafts before the end of 2017.

Li Dianchun, COO of Hong Kong Airlines, said, “Our company has already debut new flights to Vancouver in North America in June end this year, which is being served with the help of Airbus A330-200 aircraft. Just only a couple of months into its launch, the Hong Kong-Vancouver route is proving to be successful. This has prompted us to consider expanding our international network further with plans to launch the airline’s first gateway in the continental United States.”