Cathay Pacific said on Thursday it is seeing "enormous potential" in further flights to Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) destinations after services to those regions performed much better than expected.

Speaking in an interview with RTHK, chief executive Ronald Lam also noted there was "much larger room for growth" for businesses with BRI emerging markets, compared to the ones in the developed economies.

His remarks also came as the carrier is set to make flight frequencies between Hong Kong-Riyadh and Hong Kong-Dallas daily starting next month.

"We have been pleasantly surprised by how quickly the flights are performing. For example, on the flights to Riyadh, we started with three flights per week, and now we are able to increase to a daily frequency within just a year," he said at the 10th Belt and Road Summit.

"Similarly, on flights to Dallas, we started with four flights a week [in April], and then next month we'll also [be adding to them to make it] a daily frequency.

"So these are testimony [to] these new flights performing really well – riding on the Belt and Road Initiative concept," Lam said after attending a plenary session, adding that the group is exploring the possibility of starting services to more BRI destinations in the future and adding to existing ones.

Lam noted that of its 100 global destinations, 30 are in Belt and Road, or Silk Road, countries, and another 20 are on the mainland, underscoring Cathay's role as a "super connector" linking China with BRI regions.

While Cathay's direct flights to Riyadh link the mainland with the Middle East, its non-stop flights to Dallas help connect with Central and South America, while another service to Urumqi facilitates exchanges with Central Asia – all of which are, he said, key markets under the BRI national programme.

"Among our 100 flight destinations, half of them are more stable, mature markets, mostly to the western countries, such as to Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia," Lam said.

"Although [such service sectors] are performing well, the growth potential is relatively smaller.

"But the other half [of our routes] to Chinese mainland and to the Belt and Road countries are all up-and-coming emerging markets. We do see there is huge potential for us there as an airline group and also for the entire aviation industry in Hong Kong."

Lam also pointed to rising cargo demand on routes between China and BRI countries in line with an increase in cross-border e-commerce trade.

"One example is that we've been running a freighter every week that carries more than 100 tonnes of cargo between Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia to facilitate e-commerce between China and Saudi Arabia," he said.