Flights to Bali and Shanghai Hongqiao are set to resume 10 days after the debut of this new route.
The Fukuoka skyline rising above the Muromi River. (Photo: Nichika Yoshida/Unsplash)
It’s been an incredibly tough few years for Hong Kong Airlines, which was struggling financially even before the pandemic. The full-service carrier’s recent restructuring saw its network reduced to 25 medium- and short-haul destinations; operations on the Hong Kong–Auckland route were terminated in October 2019, and the following month saw an announcement that the remaining long-haul services to Los Angeles and Vancouver would be axed in February 2020.
But now that its home base has reopened to the world, surging demand for travel is prompting Hong Kong Airlines to add a fifth destination in Japan. The carrier’s nonstop flights will add more connections between Hong Kong and Fukuoka from April 7, 2023, with the initial frequency set at four times a week. Scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, HK640 will take off from Hong Kong at 10:25 a.m. and land at Fukuoka at 3 p.m. local time. The return service, HX641, will depart from Fukuoka at 4 p.m. and return to Chek Lap Kok at 6:35 p.m.; the estimated travel time is three hours and 35 minutes each way. Hong Kong Airlines faces stiff competition with Cathay Pacific, which will increase frequencies on the route from four to six weekly flights on March 26 before going daily from early April. Cathay’s low-cost subsidiary HK Express already flies twice daily to Fukuoka.
Japan’s second-largest port city and the primary gateway to the island of Kyushu, Fukuoka is known for its yatai street food stalls and tonkotsu ramen, in addition to the 700-year-old Yamakasa festival that takes place every summer. For now, ticket reservations for the Hong Kong–Fukuoka route are only possible through designated travel agents, as bookings have not yet opened on the Hong Kong Airlines website.
In related news, Hong Kong Airlines says it will resume flights to Bali on a five-times-weekly basis, as well as a daily service to Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, from April 17.
