Cathay Pacific· Callsign CPA520 ·Daily

CX520 from Hong Kong to Tokyo, tracked live

A high-frequency North Asian trunk route at the heart of Cathay's regional network.

Save
Send this flight to someone

They get a page with the live position and no sign-up. The link stops working when it expires.

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.

HKG
Hong Kong
Hong Kong International Airport
08:10 HKT (UTC+8)
3h 55m
2,963 km · 1,841 mi
Non-stop
NRT
Tokyo
Narita International Airport
13:05 JST (UTC+9)
Typical schedule · next departure Friday, October 30 · times shown in airport local time
Aircraft
Airbus A330-300
typical equipment
Distance
2,963 km
1,600 nautical miles
Heading
54°
tracks north-east
Clock change
+1 h
on arrival
Block speed
756 km/h
gate to gate average
Range used
25%
of the type's book range
Length rank
#276
of 439 tracked routes

Follow CX520 in real time

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

CX520 is not transmitting right now. It may be between rotations, on the ground, or out of receiver range - Check back near 08:10 at HKG. The full map has the rest of the sky, and what is flying over me will name whatever is above you instead.

CX520 at a glance

  • The trip: 2,963 km (1,841 miles) from Hong Kong to Tokyo, flying north-east.
  • How long: 3h 55m gate to gate. That is about 756 km/h on average, taxi time included.
  • Your watch: set it 1 hour forward on arrival.
  • Window seat tip: the right (south-facing) side gets the sun on a daytime flight.
  • The plane: usually an Airbus A330-300. This route uses about 25% of how far it can fly.
  • When it goes: out of HKG in early morning, into NRT in midday.

CX520 route overview: HKG to NRT

CX520 distance and great-circle path

CX520 covers 2,963 km, or 1,841 miles. That makes it a medium-haul flight, long enough for a full meal service, short enough for narrowbodies. Of the 439 routes we track, it ranks 276 by distance.

The plane leaves Hong Kong heading north-east. On the map above, the line looks curved. That is normal. The shortest path over a round planet never looks straight on a flat screen. Our guide explains how the HKG-NRT route appears on a tracker map.

Why CX520 block time differs from cruise time

The schedule allows 3.9 hours from gate to gate. That works out to about 756 km/h. An Airbus A330-300 cruises faster than that. The gap is taxi time, climbing, descending and holding.

Flying east, this route usually picks up tailwinds high up. The flight back west normally takes longer, even though the distance is identical. See what really moves flight times.

Can the Airbus A330-300 comfortably fly CX520?

Not at all. At roughly 25% of its range, this is an easy trip for an Airbus A330-300. The airline picked it for cabin size, not distance. The full numbers are on our aircraft page for the Airbus A330-300.

What to know about CX520

  • Time change: you land 1 hour ahead of the time you left.

CX520 against the rest of the HKG-NRT pairing

We track 2 scheduled services between Hong Kong and Tokyo, split between Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines. Among them, it is the only one flown with an Airbus A330-300.

Measured against CX520, which pushes back at 08:10:

Block time is gate to gate, so it counts taxi at both ends. That is why two flights covering identical distance rarely share a scheduled duration.

CX520 activity in the past 7 days

Our database contains 8 observations of CX520 across 8 UTC dates in this window, most recently 2026-10-29. Those records contain 7 distinct transponder addresses.

The median recorded visibility was 241 minutes. That is time inside receiver coverage, not airborne duration or an on-time-performance measurement.

Date (UTC)RouteFirst trackedLast trackedTracked for
2026-10-29 tracked in flight 03:28 UTC 07:22 UTC 3h 54m
2026-10-28 tracked in flight 02:34 UTC 06:36 UTC 4h 2m
2026-10-27 tracked in flight 02:59 UTC 07:09 UTC 4h 10m
2026-10-26 tracked in flight 02:36 UTC 06:46 UTC 4h 10m
2026-10-25 tracked in flight 02:34 UTC 07:07 UTC 4h 33m
2026-10-24 tracked in flight 03:13 UTC 07:10 UTC 3h 57m
2026-10-23 tracked in flight 03:25 UTC 07:26 UTC 4h 1m
2026-10-22 tracked in flight 02:48 UTC 06:49 UTC 4h 1m

“First/last tracked” are when CX520 entered and left receiver coverage, in UTC.

Airports and aircraft on CX520

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

HKG Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong, China · live radar →
NRT Narita International Airport Tokyo, Japan · live radar →
A333 Airbus A330-300 Typical equipment · specs →

How much CO2 does CX520 emit?

Worked from the great-circle distance and the fuel burn measured for Airbus A330-300, the aircraft normally flying this route. Carbon dioxide only - see the method below.

Distance flown2,963 km
AircraftAirbus A330-300
Fuel burn rate6.25 kg per km
Fuel burned18,507 kg
CO2, whole flight58.5 tonnes
Seats, typical layout277
Passengers carried230 at an 83% load factor
CO2 per passenger254 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 254 kg cabin average and a flat bed well above it.

Economy227 seats, 188 flown
184 kg CO2 per seat
Business42 seats, 35 flown
534 kg CO2 per seat
First8 seats, 7 flown
737 kg CO2 per seat

Taken whole, CX520 emits what 975 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 1,496 km, or 7,265 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 5,556 km and 10,275 km, all longer than this route, so the closest is held flat and the real figure is likely a little higher. 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 CX520 against another flight.

Other tracked flights from Hong Kong

FlightRouteTypical aircraft
CX3479Hong Kong (HKG) → Mumbai (BOM) CX3479 flight tracker →
JL736Hong Kong (HKG) → Tokyo (NRT) Boeing 787-8 DreamlinerJL736 flight tracker →
CX565Taipei (TPE) → Hong Kong (HKG) 777 367CX565 flight tracker →
AC7Seoul (ICN) → Hong Kong (HKG) Boeing 787-9 DreamlinerAC7 flight tracker →
CX336Hong Kong (HKG) → Beijing (PEK) Airbus A330-300CX336 flight tracker →
CA109Beijing (PEK) → Hong Kong (HKG) Airbus A321CA109 flight tracker →

Guides relevant to CX520

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

How airlines plan routes This medium-haul sector shows how aircraft size and local demand shape a network.
Boeing versus Airbus The typical aircraft is built by Airbus; these visual clues help identify it.
Airline alliances explained Cathay Pacific belongs to oneworld, which affects connections and codeshares.

Data sources and review

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

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 CX520 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.

CX520 frequently asked questions

How long is the CX520 flight?

Hong Kong to Tokyo is 2,963 km (1,841 miles) in a straight line, scheduled at 3.9 hours gate to gate. Actual airborne time varies with winds, routing and holding.

What aircraft operates CX520?

Typically an Airbus A330-300 (full specifications), using roughly 25% of that type's published range.

Does CX520 fly every day?

The published pattern is daily, departing 08:10 local from HKG. Always confirm with the airline before travelling.

Who else flies Hong Kong to Tokyo?

We track 2 scheduled services on this pairing across 2 carriers: Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines. The others are JL736. Against them, CX520 stands out because it is the only one flown with an Airbus A330-300.

Can I track CX520 live?

Yes. Whenever CX520 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

FlightRouteTypical 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 →
CX256 London (LHR) → Hong Kong (HKG) Airbus A350-900 CX256 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 →