Cathay Pacific is to increase UK services with daily flights to Gatwick Airport and five flights a week to Manchester Airport from June.

The airline launched four Airbus A350-900 flights a week to Gatwick in September, and will make the service daily from 1 June to cater for demand. The outbound flight will leave Hong Kong at 00.55h and arrive in London at 06.30h, with the return leaving at 13.15h and landing in Hong Kong at 07.55h the next day.

Cathay Pacific will increase Manchester to five times a week from 2 June, operating on Monday, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, leaving Hong Kong at 01.00h and landing in Manchester at 06.50h, with the return departing at 12.25h and arriving back in Hong Kong at 07.05h the next day. The flight will also be upgraded from a Boeing 777-300ER to an Airbus A350-900.

Cathay Pacific chief executive, Ivan Chu says: “The UK is a very important market for us, one which we have served for over 35 years.”