Cathay Pacific's Record-Breaking December: More Australian Flights Than Ever Before

Cathay Pacific is the second-largest long-haul foreign passenger airline serving Australia.This is based on flights; only Singapore Airlines has more. When passengers, seats for sale, and available seat miles/kilometers are considered, Cathay ranks third, behind Singapore Airlines and Emirates.

Cirium Diio data for December 2025 shows that Cathay will have more nonstop flights to Australia than in any other month in history. It plans 369 departures across the festive month (double for both ways), which is up by nearly a fifth compared to last December.

Cathay’s Nonstop Flights To Australia In The Past 20+ Years

To make the figure more readable, only the Hong Kong flag carrier’s services to Australia are shown for December. However, schedule analysis shows that no other month in any year to date has had more than 369 nonstop departures. The next closest offering was in December 2018 and January 2019, when 349 one-way flights were available.

Cathay has 19% more services than it did last December. The return of Adelaide to its network on November 11 contributed; it is bound to make my Weekly Routes article (see the most recent edition). The oneworld member’s last passenger operation to South Australia was nearly six years ago, in early 2020. Moreover, it has more flights to the five other Australian cities that it serves—Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney—than it did 12 months ago.

It would be easy to conclude that it has more flights because it uses lower-capacity equipment. However, that is not the case, at least not for December. Despite no longer using the Airbus A350-1000 to the country, it has an average of 323 seats per departure, more than in any other Christmas month. They’ve risen by 3% compared to last December, influenced by many more flights on the 361-seat, Aria-equipped Boeing 777-300ER. However, when all months are considered, the record was 335 seats/departure during the pandemic-hit 2020.

Cathay’s Australian Passenger Network In December 2025

The carrier plans 11 to 13 daily services to Australia in the examined month. They have risen from seven to 11 departures in December 2024. Cirium indicates that the maximum daily offering of 13 daily takeoffs was last available in March 2019. Notice that seasonal services to Cairns, in the tropical Far North of the tourist state of Queensland, return on December 9. In 2024, they resumed on December 17.

Despite Cathay’s record offering to Australia, its share of nonstop services from Hong Kong has fallen from 83% last December to 81% in the same month in 2025. Qantas’ offering has not changed: it still has a daily A330-300 service from both Melbourne and Sydney. The reason is because of the entry of Hong Kong Airlines from its namesake country to Sydney in June 2025, with Melbourne flights starting in mid-December.

A Day In The Life: Cathay To Australia On December 9

Cirium data shows that Cathay plans 13 daily passenger services to Australia on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from December 9, which coincides with the return of Cairns flights. Compared to the equivalent day last year, its offering has risen from just eight daily takeoffs.

On Tuesday, December 9, Cathay’s Australia-bound flights will be as follows. They’ll leave Hong Kong at 00:30 (Cairns, A330-300), 00:30 (Melbourne, 777-300ER), 08:45 (Sydney, 777-300ER), 11:00 (Melbourne, 777-300ER), 12:25 (Brisbane, A350-900), 15:20 (Perth, 777-300ER), 19:05 (Sydney, A350-900), 19:05 (Melbourne, A350-900), 21:20 (Sydney, 777-300ER), 23:10 (Perth, A350-900), 23:30 (Adelaide, A350-900), 23:50 (Brisbane, A350-900), and 23:55 (Sydney, 777-300ER).