Cathay Pacific opens office in Jalandhar

In an attempt to strengthen its base in the northern region of the country, Cathay Pacific Airways has opened a general sales agent (GSA) office in Jalandhar, managed by G C Nanda & Sons.

The new office will help service and enhance the local demand for north American and Australian destinations through Cathay Pacific's four weekly flights from Delhi to Hong Kong and beyond.

The new office reflects Cathay Pacific's confidence in the growth of the north Indian market. The airline is particularly positive about the future of the Punjab market and the new office will help to develop and improve Cathay Pacific's market coverage in the region.

This is the first time the airline has opened an office in north India outside of Delhi, and it marks the start of a period of gradual expansion throughout the region.

In a short ceremony attended by leading travel agents, Tom Wright, regional general manager (Middle East, India and Africa) and Rupert Bray, country manager (India, Nepal & Bangladesh) officially opened the office.

Speaking at the occasion Wright said, "This is an important step for Cathay Pacific in the expansion of the service we provide to passengers in Punjab. We believe that northern India has enormous potential and look forward to working with our local travel partners towards building our presence in this exciting market."

Cathay Pacific Airways, the Skytrax Airline of the Year 2005 and ATW Airline of the Year 2006, based in Hong Kong, offers scheduled passenger and cargo services to 92 destinations in 35 countries and territories. The airline flies to Asia, North America, Australia, Europe and Africa.

The airline has been in India for over 50 years. It currently operates through 15 offices in India. Cathay Pacific flies four times a week from Delhi to Hong Kong and four times a week from Mumbai to Hong Kong via Bangkok. From Mumbai, Cathay Pacific also flies four times a week to Dubai.

The aircraft deployed on the Delhi route is the Airbus A330-300 and on the Mumbai routes is the Boeing 777-300, Wright said adding that Cathay Pacific Airways also had a freight network of 28 destinations with 3 flights to Mumbai and 3 flights to New Delhi per week. Effective from June 2, 2006, the airline will operate two additional cargo flights to Chennai.