Australian Aviation, one of Australia's premier aviation magazines is reporting Hong Kong based carrier Cathay Pacific is requesting more capacity between Hong Kong and Australia.

Cathay Pacific currently has 70 flights a week between Australia and Hong Kong, the maximum allowable under the current bilateral agreement.

Cathay Pacific management raised the issue at the recent CAPA Australia Pacific Aviation summit.  Without increasing the amount of flights but replacing current aircraft with Boeing 777-300ERs , Cathay Pacific could achieve a 40 per cent increase in seat capacity.

The two stand out Australian cities are Melbourne which has recorded a 10 per cent growth in traffic to China and Hong Kong and Brisbane which has had a 15.9 per cent growth in the Chinese market.

Cathay Pacific is trying to protect market share as other Chinese carriers employ larger aircraft such as Airbus A380s and Boeing 787 to the Australian market and increase frequency of services and add destinations.

http://australianaviation.com.au/2013/08/cathay-in-bid-for-more-australia-capacity/

http://www.theage.com.au/business/cathay-wants-more-flights-down-under-20130808-2rj81.html for more information.