Cathay Pacific will make Washington Dulles its seventh U.S.
gateway beginning Sept. 16, 2018.
The Hong Kong-Washington route will be the longest in the carrier's
network at 8,153 miles. It will also be the longest flight offered from either
Hong Kong or the Washington, D.C. area, according to a Dulles airport press
release.
Cathay will fly the route four times weekly with an Airbus
A350-1000, the largest variant of Airbus' new-generation widebody A350 family.
The airline expects to take delivery of its first A350-1000
next spring. The aircraft will be configured with business, premium economy and
economy cabins.
Cathay currently flies to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New
York, Newark, Chicago and Boston.
The Washington route announcement comes one day after Cathay's
upstart competitor, Hong Kong Airlines, inaugurated U.S. service with a Hong
Kong-Los Angeles route. The carrier plans to begin flying to San Francisco and
New York next year.