Cathay Pacific· Callsign CPA256

CX256 from London to Hong Kong, tracked live

Q: What aircraft operates CX256?

Typically an Airbus A350-900, using roughly 64% of that type's published range.

Cathay Pacific between London and Hong Kong: 9,631 km north-east, ultra-long-haul, tracked live here whenever it is transmitting.

Save Not currently flying

Status on this page means observed ADS-B activity inside available receiver coverage. Confirm official delay, cancellation, gate and booking status with Cathay Pacific.

LHR

London

London Heathrow Airport

9,631 km · 5,984 mi

Non-stop

HKG

Hong Kong

Hong Kong International Airport

Aircraft

Airbus A350-900

typical equipment

Distance

9,631 km

5,200 nautical miles

Heading

58°

tracks north-east

Clock change

+8 h

on arrival

Range used

64%

of the type's book range

Length rank

#80

of 439 tracked routes

Follow CX256 in real time

The aircraft appears below whenever it is airborne and inside receiver coverage. Its planned route is drawn between the two airports.

CX256 is not transmitting right now. It may be between rotations, on the ground, or out of receiver range - Check back near departure time. The full map has the rest of the sky, and what is flying over me will name whatever is above you instead.

CX256 at a glance

The trip: 9,631 km (5,984 miles) from London to Hong Kong, flying north-east.
How long: no published block time for this service yet.
Your watch: set it 8 hours forward on arrival.
Window seat tip: the right (south-facing) side gets the sun on a daytime flight.
The plane: usually an Airbus A350-900. This route uses about 64% of how far it can fly.

CX256 route overview: LHR to HKG

CX256 distance and great-circle path

CX256 covers 9,631 km, or 5,984 miles. That makes it an ultra-long-haul flight, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 80 by distance.

This is a long east-west haul. 9,631 km separate London from Hong Kong, and the 8-hour clock change on arrival is the part passengers feel for days. It links United Kingdom with China.

Our guide explains how the LHR-HKG route appears on a tracker map.

Can the Airbus A350-900 comfortably fly CX256?

Not really. It uses about 64% of the Airbus A350-900's range. That leaves room for a full load of passengers and bags. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Airbus A350-900.

What to know about CX256

Time change: you land 8 hours ahead of the time you left. That is enough to cause jet lag. Here is how pilots handle it.

What we know about CX256

What flying LHR to HKG takes

It is an ultra-long-haul sector, near the limit of what most twinjets can fly non-stop. Cathay Pacific needs a long-range widebody such as an A350, 787 or 777: few types can fly this far with a commercial payload, and headwinds can force a technical stop on the worst days. Eastbound, the jet stream is usually a tailwind, so the return leg against it tends to be the longer of the two. In daylight the sun sits on the right (south-facing) side of the cabin for most of the crossing.

How we verified this

The origin and destination on this page are the ones we verified for callsign CPA256 through adsbdb, not a schedule copied from elsewhere. We have logged it airborne on 41 days between 2026-09-19 and 2026-10-29. Timings are observations, not an official operational status: always confirm with the airline before travelling.

This page was published from our own tracking record rather than a third-party schedule feed, so it grows as we see the flight again. The seven-day log below is the raw version of the same evidence.

CX256 activity in the past 7 days

Our database contains 8 observations of CX256 across 8 UTC dates in this window, most recently 2026-10-29. Those records contain 6 distinct transponder addresses. The most frequently resolved route was LHR-HKG (8 records).

The median recorded visibility was 993 minutes. That is time inside receiver coverage, not airborne duration or an on-time-performance measurement.

Date (UTC)	Route	First tracked	Last tracked	Tracked for
2026-10-29	LHR → HKG	07:25 UTC	08:23 UTC	0h 58m
2026-10-28	LHR → HKG	07:35 UTC	23:31 UTC	15h 56m
2026-10-27	LHR → HKG	07:09 UTC	23:32 UTC	16h 23m
2026-10-26	LHR → HKG	07:12 UTC	23:09 UTC	15h 57m
2026-10-25	LHR → HKG	00:00 UTC	23:05 UTC	23h 5m
2026-10-24	LHR → HKG	00:02 UTC	23:58 UTC	23h 57m
2026-10-23	LHR → HKG	00:02 UTC	23:59 UTC	23h 57m
2026-10-22	LHR → HKG	07:17 UTC	23:59 UTC	16h 42m

“First/last tracked” are when CX256 entered and left receiver coverage, in UTC.

Airports and aircraft on CX256

Every scheduled service we follow is listed in the tracker directory, including Cathay Pacific and other tracked flights grouped by airline.

LHR London Heathrow Airport London, United Kingdom · live radar →

HKG Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong, China · live radar →

A359 Airbus A350-900 Typical equipment · specs →

How much CO2 does CX256 emit?

Worked from the great-circle distance and the fuel burn measured for Airbus A350-900, the aircraft normally flying this route. Carbon dioxide only - see the method below.

Distance flown	9,631 km
Aircraft	Airbus A350-900
Fuel burn rate	6.23 kg per km
Fuel burned	60,000 kg
CO2, whole flight	189.6 tonnes
Seats, typical layout	300
Passengers carried	249 at an 83% load factor
CO2 per passenger	761 kg

Where that lands by cabin

The aircraft burns the same fuel whoever is aboard, so the cabins divide one total rather than each carrying their own. A seat's share is the floor it takes up, which is why an economy seat comes out below the 761 kg cabin average and a flat bed well above it.

Economy246 seats, 204 flown

559 kg CO2 per seat

9 trees absorbing for a year

Business45 seats, 37 flown

1,621 kg CO2 per seat

27 trees absorbing for a year

First9 seats, 7 flown

2,235 kg CO2 per seat

37 trees absorbing for a year (first 30 shown)

Taken whole, CX256 emits what 3,160 trees take back out of the air in a year. One economy seat on it accounts for about the same carbon dioxide as driving a petrol car 4,479 km, or 21,756 km of the same journey by train.

How this is worked out. Fuel burn is read from published measurements of this type, taken at sectors of 9,208 km, 10,249 km and 12,116 km, interpolated to this route's 9,631 km. It counts carbon dioxide only, and the cabin split assumes the layout typical of this size of aircraft. Read the full method, sources and caveats, or put CX256 against another flight.

Other tracked flights from London

Flight	Route	Typical aircraft
BA117	London (LHR) → New York (JFK)		BA117 flight tracker →
B61621	London (LHR) → Boston (BOS)	Airbus A321	B61621 flight tracker →
BA302	Paris (CDG) → London (LHR)	Airbus A319	BA302 flight tracker →
BA54	Johannesburg (JNB) → London (LHR)	Airbus A380-800	BA54 flight tracker →
IB713	Madrid (MAD) → London (LHR)	Airbus A320neo	IB713 flight tracker →
AA134	Los Angeles (LAX) → London (LHR)	Boeing 777-300ER	AA134 flight tracker →

Guides relevant to CX256

Chosen from this route's distance, timing, aircraft, airline and airports.

The science of jet lag Arrival shifts the clock by 8 hours.

Narrowbody vs widebody aircraft A ultra-long-haul sector makes aircraft size, cabin layout and range especially relevant.

Boeing versus Airbus The typical aircraft is built by Airbus; these visual clues help identify it.

Data sources and review

Reviewed 2026-07-29 by Flight-Tracker.net Editorial Team

Observed transponder data - observed ADS-B positions and the seven-day activity record.
Cathay Pacific official website - current passenger schedule confirmation.

The route and typical schedule are maintained reference data. Live ADS-B observations are evidence of receiver coverage, not proof of on-time performance. Always confirm the operating date and times with the airline.

Read our schedule and observation review process, or inspect the machine-readable reference dataset.

Put CX256 on your own site

One script tag renders a live status card wherever you paste it. No iframe, no account, and it keeps working on its own.

Embed code

CX256 frequently asked questions

How long is the CX256 flight?

London to Hong Kong is 9,631 km (5,984 miles) in a straight line. Actual airborne time varies with winds, routing and holding.

What aircraft operates CX256?

Typically an Airbus A350-900 (full specifications), using roughly 64% of that type's published range.

Does CX256 fly every day?

Frequency varies by season. Always confirm with the airline before travelling.

Can I track CX256 live?

Yes. Whenever CX256 is airborne and in receiver coverage the map above follows it live, with altitude, ground speed and heading. Between rotations, the seven-day log above shows where it has been.

More Cathay Pacific flights to watch

Flight	Route	Typical aircraft
CX3479	Hong Kong (HKG) → Mumbai (BOM)		CX3479 flight tracker →
CX565	Taipei (TPE) → Hong Kong (HKG)	777 367	CX565 flight tracker →
CX336	Hong Kong (HKG) → Beijing (PEK)	Airbus A330-300	CX336 flight tracker →
CX725	Hong Kong (HKG) → Kuala Lumpur (KUL)	777 367	CX725 flight tracker →
CX888	Hong Kong (HKG) → Vancouver (YVR) → New York (JFK)	Airbus A350-1000	CX888 flight tracker →
CX255	Hong Kong (HKG) → London (LHR)	Airbus A350-1000	CX255 flight tracker →
CX880	Hong Kong (HKG) → Los Angeles (LAX)	Boeing 777-300ER	CX880 flight tracker →
CX100	Hong Kong (HKG) → Sydney (SYD)	Airbus A350-900	CX100 flight tracker →
CX520	Hong Kong (HKG) → Tokyo (NRT)	Airbus A330-300	CX520 flight tracker →