75 years of innovation and sustainable development

Cathay Pacific turns 75 today, being the fourth most historical airline in the world, the airline continues to strive towards being the world’s greatest service brand

Ever since Cathay Pacific’s inaugural flight 75 years ago, the airline has grown from one aircraft with a regional focus, into an international full-service carrier, winning the Skytrax World’s Best Airline Award four times.

Today, the five-star carrier operates one of the youngest fleet in the skies, and offers freight and passenger services to more than 100 destinations across six continents. For over three quarters of a century, the airline has connected nearly millions of passengers around the world to their family, friends and meaningful experiences.

Chief Executive Officer Augustus Tang said: “Cathay Pacific has seen exhilarating successes over the past incredible 75 years. We’ve connected people to many new destinations, welcomed the arrival of state-of-the-art aircraft and introduced exciting customer experience enhancements, to name a few.  We have also experienced unprecedented challenges, such as the global pandemic, which we are all still overcoming. What these over seven decades have shown is that we are a resilient brand.

“What has never changed is our unyielding commitment to our loyal customers, our dedicated people and our wonderful home city, Hong Kong. We wouldn’t be the company we are today without the enduring support they have shown us, and we are incredibly grateful to each and every one of them. We hope they will join us in marking our 75th anniversary, and we look forward to many more journeys together.

Sustainable growth through the years

As the one of the leading and the oldest airline’s in the world, Cathay Pacific operates 180 aircraft featuring award winning cabins and the latest inflight entertainment, with an average fleet age of just 6.5 years. Cathay Pacific continues to invest in new, technologically advanced aircraft that are fuel efficient and offer a step changes to reduce emissions and environmental impact.

As yet more Airbus A350, A321neo join the Cathay Pacific fleet, and Boeing 777-9X due to enter into service in a few years’ time, the average fleet age is only going to get younger, the customer propositions better.

A leader in sustainable initiatives

When delivering new aircraft, Cathay Pacific uses a blend of biofuel. In 2016, Cathay Pacific’s A350-900 performed the world’s longest flight using a blend of biofuel.

Long before sustainability became part of public consciousness, Cathay Pacific started reporting its environmental activities 25 years ago. Cathay Pacific was the first Asian airline to launch its own carbon offsetting programme in 1997, and the first airline to invest in biofuel production with Fulcrum. In 2019, Cathay Pacific became the first airline in the world to serve Omnipork – a plant-based meat alternative – onboard.

The airline continues to build on its sustainability efforts in the areas of community, environment, biodiversity and corporate social responsibility. In 2021, Cathay Pacific was the first Asian airline to commit to being carbon net-zero in 2050. 

Enhancing customer experience

For 75 years, Cathay Pacific has worked to make sure air travel is more than just transportation between A and B. The airline offers the world’s first yoga studio in an airline lounge, brewed the first bottled craft beer for consumption at 35,000ft, and offered the world’s first online check-in service.

Fully-flat beds have completely transformed comfort level on long-haul flights, with Cathay Pacific introducing these more than two decades ago. World’s first live radio service debuted on Cathay Pacific in 1991, whereas on-demand Nintendo games were introduced in 2004.

Cathay Pacific’s entire fleet is now Wi-Fi enabled, with the majority of aircraft offering TV news and sports channels.

On Cathay Pacific’s newest Airbus A321neo, personal seat-back televisions are now 4K ultra high definition – the first airline to introduce UHD TVs.

Progressive thinking leads to network expansion

Progressive thinking and innovation has been the spirit of Cathay Pacific throughout its history.

The airline’s engineering team worked with the Rolls Royce research and development team to launch the world’s first non-stop flight from London to Hong Kong in 1983, a world-record achievement at the time.

In just over a decade, Cathay Pacific also championed the world’s first ever commercial transpolar flight between New York and Hong Kong – a route that has now become the industry norm for reduced journey time and vastly reduced carbon emissions. As a co-founder of the oneworld alliance, Cathay Pacific offers more than 200 destinations to connect passengers to their families, friends, and meaningful experiences.

Own a piece of history

Cathay Pacific has created a special series of limited-edition merchandise commemorating more than seven decades of connection.

Customers have the opportunity to get a special collector’s box sets each featuring seven aircraft models, from the airline’s very first Douglas DC-3 aircraft, “Betsy”, to the newest member of its fleet, the Airbus A321neo. Along with limited-edition pen and cardholder sets that have been crafted out of aluminium reclaimed from B-HUJ, the airline’s final Boeing 747-400 passenger aircraft, and engraved with a unique serial number.

Customers can also give their luggage a touch of history with limited-edition aviation-themed luggage tags. Each has been formed from the body of Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-200 B-HND aircraft – affectionately called the “Haneda Jet” – which joined the fleet on 13 June 1996 and carried more than six million passengers over her lifetime.

All 75th anniversary memorabilia is available exclusively on the new Cathay shopping platform: please click here.

Customers can also stand a chance to win limited-edition luggage tags by participating in Cathay Pacific’s Facebook competition, click here to participate.

About Cathay Pacific

• Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways is a full-service five-star international airline offering regular passenger and cargo services globally, between Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and Africa.
• Cathay Pacific has a 5-star COVID safety rating, the highest according to Airline Ratings.
• Cathay Pacific has won the Skytrax’s World’s Best Airline accolade four times, and has also been recognised as the World’s Top 10 Cleanest Airline for five consecutive years.
• Cathay Pacific is the fourth most historical airlines in the world still trading in its founding name. The airline’s age is preceded by KLM at 101 years, Qantas at 100, and Air New Zealand at 89.
• Cathay Pacific operates one of the youngest fleet of mixed widebody and narrowbody aircraft amongst airlines with a similar large fleet size and global connectivity. Data retrieved as of August 2021.