Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has made its long-awaited return to the Italian capital city of Rome with the commencement of new summer seasonal flights between the two cities. The addition of Rome to the carrier’s network brings its total number of destinations served to almost 100, with other new routes planned for later in 2025.
Cathay Pacific made its anticipated return to Italy’s capital with flight CX293 on June 5, 2025, operated by Airbus A350 registered B-LQG. The flight departed Hong Kong at 00:47 on that date, arriving the same morning at 06:53 local time, taking 12 hours and seven minutes to cover the total distance of 5,778 miles (9,245km). The new summer seasonal service is the fourth new destination to join Cathay Pacific’s global network so far in 2025.
The flight schedule sees CX293 depart Hong Kong at 00:30 on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and land at Rome-Fiumicino Airport (FCO) at 07:35. The eastbound flight departs Rome at 13:00 (CX292) on the same days, arriving back in Hong Kong at 06:30 the following morning. All flights are operated by Cathay’s fleet of Airbus A350-900s, which accommodate 280 passengers in a three-class configuration.
Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “Rome has long been an important destination for Cathay Pacific and a popular one among our customers. We first launched flights to the city in 1986, and we are thrilled to be back once again connecting our home, Hong Kong, with the Eternal City. We look forward to welcoming customers onboard with our signature Cathay Pacific service.”
“In addition to Rome, we will also be launching flights to Munich and Brussels this summer. In total, we will be operating close to 100 return flights per week to 12 European destinations, providing our customers with even greater connectivity between Hong Kong and this important region.”
Rome is Cathay Pacific’s second destination in Italy, joining the airline’s existing daily return flights to Milan. The airline also operates flights to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Frankfurt, London Heathrow, Madrid, Manchester, Paris, and Zurich in Europe. Cathay customers travelling from Europe can connect to the Cathay Group’s extensive network of destinations across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, including 22 destinations in the Chinese Mainland served by Cathay Pacific and HK Express.
Cathay Pacific and HK Express are launching passenger services to 16 destinations around the world in 2025, with more announcements expected in the coming months. So far this year, Cathay Pacific has announced new services to four new international destinations, including Hyderabad, Dallas-Fort Worth, Urumqi, and now Rome. Meanwhile, low-cost sister carrier HK Express has launched services to Sendai, Nha Trang, Ishigaki, Komatsu, Changzhou, and Yiwu already in 2025.
Within the first half of 2025, and with the addition of more new services, the Cathay Group’s combined passenger network will reach 100 destinations across the globe for the first time in the airline’s 79-year history.
