Cathay Pacific Airways today announced it will add more flights to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France and Japan as part of the airline's plan to reinstate more passenger capacity in line with continued strong demand.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: "We aim to increase overall passenger capacity by about 4 per cent for the Cathay Pacific Group, returning to 2008 pre-financial crisis levels. The increased frequencies will offer passengers greater choice and further strengthen connections through Hong Kong. Together with our new Milan and Moscow services, launched respectively in March and July this year, these service enhancements will certainly boost Hong Kong's position as one of the world's leading aviation hubs."

From November, flights are being added on routes to Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Cairns, Auckland, Toronto and Osaka. For its service between Hong Kong and Paris, the airline aims to gradually increase the number of flights to 11 per week by December. Full flight details are as follows:

Paris (PAR)

• Ten flights per week until 30 September, then back to daily; 9 flights per week from 27 November to 10 December; 11 flights per week effective 11 December 2010

Sydney (SYD)

• From 24 flights per week to four-times daily from 15 November 2010 to 26 March 2011

Perth (PER)

• Three flights to be added, making a total of 10 flights per week from 16 November to 26 March

Brisbane (BNE)/Cairns (CNS)

• One more flight to be added, making it a daily service to Cairns and a total of 11 flights to Brisbane from 21 November 2010 to 6 March 2011

Auckland (AKL)

• Two more flights to be added, making a total of 12 flights per week from 27 November 2010 to 6 March 2011

Toronto (YTO)

• Two flights to be added, making a total of 12 flights per week effective 31 October 2010

Osaka (OSA)

• A daily flight to be added, making a total of four flights a day effective 31 October