Cathay Pacific celebrates launch of direct flight from DFW to Hong Kong at gala
Cathay Pacific celebrated the launch of its new nonstop route between Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Hong Kong at the Bowie House hotel on Wednesday evening.
The swanky launch party was attended by airline executives, DFW airport leaders and social media influencers. Guests sampled Asian-inspired foods, hand stamped leather goods and got bandannas custom embroidered, while a string trio’s renditions of pop hits like “Old Town Road” and “Happier Than Ever” played in the background.
The inaugural nonstop flight is scheduled to leave DFW at 10:55 p.m. on Thursday and arrive at Hong Kong International Airport at 4:35 a.m local time on Saturday.
The airline announced the new route, which will run four days a week, in September. The over 16-hour flight will span 8,123 miles, making it Cathay’s longest flight by distance. The only nonstop route from Texas to Hong Kong, each flight can accommodate between 350 and 400 passengers.
Round trip tickets for the new route start at around $1,670 for an economy seat and $6,350 for a business-class seat. Budget travelers can snag a round-trip economy ticket for as low as $1,260 on some flights during the first week of May. U.S. citizens do not need a visa to visit Hong Kong if their trip is less than 90 days, unless they plan to work or study there.
Cathay Group’s chief customer and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said the airline has been exploring opportunities at DFW for years, and now is the perfect time to add a flight. Lau said the flight won’t only increase access to Hong Kong— it’s a gateway for U.S. travelers to reach a myriad of destinations in southeast Asia and mainland China.
“Our aspiration for this fight also goes beyond just the two wonderful cities of DFW and Hong Kong. We want to expand the reach of this flight to beyond DFW, through here, onto the rest of North, Central and South America,” Lau said.
Lau said the new route doesn’t have a target customer demographic; Cathay expects it to be filled by business travelers, tourists, students and those visiting family and friends abroad. The Metroplex is home to one of the country’s fastest-growing Asian American populations.
Cathay Group and DFW leaders hope to eventually expand the route to once-daily service. Bookings for the new route have been robust, Lau said. Cathay is evaluating the DFW route against data from the start of its direct flight to Hong Kong from Chicago, the only other nonstop flight it operates in the central U.S.
Some hospitality industry experts believe business travel will decline this year, due to new tariffs and growing uncertainty about the economy’s future. Visitors to the U.S. from Asia were down 3.4% in March compared to a year prior.
Cathay established a task force to monitor the rapidly changing tariff landscape earlier this month. Lau said tariffs haven’t yet had a significant impact on the airline’s bookings. In March, Cathay’s passenger traffic was over 19% higher than one year prior. Lau is optimistic Americans will continue to travel during major summer holidays.
Cathay Pacific’s attributable profit was about $1.27 billion in 2024. Founded in 1946, the airline serves 80 destinations in over 30 countries, including Hong Kong International Airport, its largest hub. One of Cathay’s two co-founders, Roy C. Farrell, was from Vernon, Texas, a small town about 160 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
Part of the oneworld Alliance, Cathay Pacific is one of Fort Worth-based American Airlines’ partner airlines. American operated a direct flight between DFW and Hong Kong from 2014 until the pandemic halted travel, but eliminated the route in 2021.
DFW is American Airlines’ largest hub, and construction is underway on the airport’s sixth terminal, which will add 15 new gates and is expected to open in 2027. In his remarks at Cathay’s launch event, DFW’s CEO Sean Donohue attributed much of the airport’s recent success to American Airlines’ support.
“It’s great to see carriers keep coming in, and it wouldn’t work without American’s incredible, incredible investment at DFW,” Donohue said.
DFW retained its spot as the world’s third busiest airport in 2024, after new rankings were released on April 14.
Cathay Pacific isn’t the only airline introducing new long-haul flights from North Texas to Asia. EVA Air announced it will begin operating direct flights between DFW and Taipei, Taiwan on October 3. The route will run three times per week.
“Now, we are seeing strong passenger demand for this route due to the influx of numerous companies in recent years and strong economic and population growth. Dallas has become one of Texas’ economic and commercial centers,” said president of EVA Air Clay Sun in a statement.
Governor Greg Abbott traveled to Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in July, where he met with heads of state and economic development leaders.
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
