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Direct flight Madrid-Hong Kong inaugurated in Spain

Xinhua, June 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

The company Cathay Pacific Airways has inaugurated on Thursday at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport a direct flight between the capital of Spain, Madrid, and Hong Kong.

The flight, operated with a Boeing 777-300ER, took off at 12:30 local time (1030GTM) from Madrid and will arrive in Hong Kong the following morning. There will be four direct flights per week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays).

The event was attended by the Spanish acting Minister of Public Works, Ana Pastor, Cathay Pacific Airways General Manager for Europe, Neil Glenn, and the company's General Manager for Spain, Philippa Tregear.

Pastor highlighted the impact of the new route on job creation, trade and tourism. "More than 300 new jobs have been created already," she said, adding that "the route will boost tourism not only in Madrid but in Spain in general."

Glenn highlighted the importance of this direct flight from Madrid to Hong Kong, which is the only one currently operating.

"Spain plays an important international role in both business and tourism, we are delighted to be the only airline offering a direct service between Madrid and Hong Kong connecting Spanish travelers to many great destinations, China, across Asia, Australia and New Zealand," he highlighted.

"It is another important development in the expansion of our European network. It has taken a lot of planning, preparation, cooperation, between many parties to bring Madrid on line and to make this launch a success," Glenn said, adding that "we believe our new service will be a great support to Spanish exporters and importers."

Tregear said they expected to increase demand between Spain and Hong Kong. "The growth of our network is an important part of our strategy, it supports our efforts to strengthen Hong Kong as one of the main international hubs," she said.

Cathay Pacific Airways, whose headquarters is in Hong Kong, has their own staff working in Spain since April. The company flies to around 180 destinations in the world and has nine destinations in Europe.

Spain is one of the most visited countries in the world and it is increasingly receiving Chinese visitors. The new connection is a step forward in increasing these figures as fast visa delivery and direct flights connections are issues experts say need to be addressed in order to improve people flow. Endit