1946–1960: The early years Cathay Pacific Airways was founded on 24 September 1946 in Hong Kong.
Sydney "Syd" de Kantzow,
Roy Farrell, that was initially headquartered in Shanghai. Both de Kantzow and Farrell were Ex-Air Force pilots who had flown
The Hump, a route over the
Himalayan mountains. Farrell purchased the airline's first aircraft, a
Douglas DC-3, nicknamed
Betsy, at Bush Field,
New York City in 1945. Farrell and de Kantzow re-registered their business in Hong Kong on 24 September 1946 as Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, while another sister company, The Roy Farrell Export Import Company (Hong Kong) Limited, was incorporated on 28 August 1946 and, moreover, to avoid the name "Air Cathay" as it had already been used in a comic. and was at the time often used by other businesses called "Cathay" in English. According to legend, the airline's unique name was conceived by Farrell and some foreign correspondents at the bar of the
Manila Hotel,
China Navigation Company,
Australian National Airways being the new shareholders of the new entity, In the late 1940s, the Hong Kong Government divided the local aviation market between Cathay Pacific and its only local competitor, the
Jardine Matheson-owned
Hong Kong Airways: Between 1962 and 1967, the airline recorded double digit growth on average every year and became one of the world's first airlines to operate international services to
Fukuoka,
Nagoya and
Osaka in
Japan. In 1964, it carried its one millionth passenger and acquired its first jet engine aircraft, the
Convair 880. In 1967, it became an all jet airline with the replacement of its last
Lockheed L-188 Electra with a
Convair 880. at
Osaka International Airport in 1972–1994 livery with the British
Union Flag and the logo of parent company
Swire|alt=Lockheed L-1011 TriStar at Osaka International Airport In the 1970s, Cathay Pacific installed a computerised reservation system and flight simulators. In 1971, Cathay Pacific Airways received the first Boeing aircraft
707-320B. By 1972, it had five 707s. The new aircraft colour was known as Brunswick green. In July 1976, it began operating a
Boeing 707 freighter from
Hong Kong to
Seoul,
Bangkok and
Singapore. In 1974, Cathay Pacific almost purchased the
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 to open a new flight route. During the flight route application process with the
British government, due to the pressure from the British government, Cathay Pacific changed the application to apply for a route from Hong Kong to
London using a
Boeing 747. The application was ultimately rejected. In 1979, the airline acquired its first Boeing 747 and applied for traffic rights to fly to London in 1980, with the first flight taking place on 16 July. Expansion continued into the 1980s. In 1982, Cathay Pacific Airways introduced Cathay Pacific Cargo (now Cathay Cargo Cathay Pacific kept its service to
Vancouver in 1983, with service on to San Francisco in 1986, when an industry-wide boom encouraged route growth to many European and North American centres including London,
Brisbane, Frankfurt,
Amsterdam, Rome, Paris,
Zurich and
Manchester. On 15 May 1986, the airline went public and was listed in the Main Board of
the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
1990–2000: Rebranding, renewal, and Oneworld In January 1990, Cathay Pacific and its parent company,
Swire, acquired a 35% shareholding in
Dragonair, and a 75% stake in cargo airline
Air Hong Kong in 1994. In 1994, the airline launched a program to upgrade its passenger service, including a HK$23 million program to update its image. Its logo was updated in 1994, and again in 2014. The airline began a fleet replacement program in the mid-1990s, which cost a total of US$9 billion. In 1996,
CITIC Pacific increased its holdings in Cathay Pacific from 10% to 25%, and two other Chinese companies,
CNAC(G) and CTS, also bought substantial holdings, while the Swire Group holding was reduced to 44%. According to the
International Directory of Company Histories, the sale of a 12.5% stake of Cathay Pacific by Swire Pacific to a Chinese state-owned company was regarded "as evidence of China's sincerity in maintaining the prosperity of Hong Kong." On 21 May 1998, Cathay Pacific took the first delivery of the
Boeing 777-300 at a ceremony in
Everett. On 21 September 1998, Cathay Pacific, together with
American Airlines,
British Airways,
Canadian Airlines, and
Qantas, co-founded
Oneworld airline alliance. Cathay Pacific temporarily took over the domestic and international operations of
Philippine Airlines during its two-week shutdown from 26 September to 7 October 1998. The airline was hurt by the
1997 Asian financial crisis, but recorded a record
HK$5 billion profit in 2000.
Transfer to Chek Lap Kok and transpolar flights On 5 July 1998, Cathay Pacific operated its last flight from
Kai Tak International Airport to
London Heathrow Airport, with the former airport ceasing operations after more than 73 years of operation. The next day, Cathay Pacific began flights from
New York John F. Kennedy International Airport to the new
Hong Kong-Chek Lap Kok International Airport. This flight was also the world's first
nonstop transpolar flight from New York to Hong Kong.
2000–2010: Industrial troubles and acquisitions The year 2000 saw Cathay Pacific experience labour relations issues while completing the acquisition of Dragonair.
The 49ers – employment dispute In 2001, the Hong Kong Aircrew Officers Association (HKAOA) launched a "
work to rule" campaign to further its campaign for pay improvements and changes to roster scheduling practices. The action involved pilots refusing to work flights that were not scheduled on their roster. Although this alone did not cause extensive disruption, rostered pilots began to call in sick for their flights. Combined with the work-to-rule campaign, the airline was unable to cover all of its scheduled flights, and cancellations resulted. Cathay Pacific steadfastly refused to negotiate with the HKAOA under threat of industrial action. at
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport|left|alt=A Cathay Pacific Airbus A330-300 at
Chennai International Airport On 9 July 2001, reportedly following a comprehensive review of the employment histories of all its pilots, the company fired 49 of its 1,500 pilots. This group became known colloquially as "the 49ers". Nearly half of the fired pilots were captains, representing five percent of the total pilot group. Of the 21 officers of the HKAOA, nine were fired, including four of the seven union negotiators. Then-HKAOA president Captain Nigel Demery took the view that "the firing was pure intimidation, a union-bust straight up, designed to be random enough to put the fear in all pilots that they might be next, no reason given". The leader of the 49er Plaintiffs, Captain John Warham, launched a book titled
The 49ers – The True Story on 25 March 2011. The pilots were awarded leave on 26 October 2011 to take their case to the Court of Final Appeal. The matter was heard before Hon. Mr. Justices Bokhary, Chan and Ribeiro who are all Permanent Judges of the Court of Final Appeal. The matters to be decided upon by the Court concerned wrongful termination of contract and the level of damages for defamation. The case was heard by the Court of Final Appeal on 27 August 2012. On 26 September 2012, 11 years after they were sacked, the 49ers were finally judged to have won the 3 prime issues of their legal case: breach of contract, breach of the Employment Ordinance, and defamation. The Court of Final Appeal agreed with the Court of Appeal's methodology for reducing the defamation damages. However, it reinstated one month's salary for each of the 49ers. Regarding breach of contract, the overall picture leading to dismissal and events immediately after were analysed by the courts, not just the dismissal letter. Regarding the Employment Ordinance, an important aspect was that the judge defined the scope of "union activities" and its protection for workers in Hong Kong. The Court concluded: "Accordingly, most (possibly all) union-sponsored action is potentially protected by s 21B(1)(b), but if the action is not carried out "at [an] appropriate time", it is excluded from the provision". There was no challenge by Cathay Pacific to the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold the original Judge's conclusion that the statements made by Cathay Executives were defamatory of the plaintiffs. John Warham, referring to the effect the fight has had on pilots' families, said: "In terms of human life, three people are dead because of what Cathay Pacific did to us. That's on their conscience, I hope they can live with that."
Acquisition and downsizing of Dragonair On 28 September 2006, the airline underwent a shareholding realignment under which Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary but continued to operate under its brand. Acquiring Dragonair meant gaining more access to the restricted, yet rapidly growing, mainland China market and more opportunities for sharing of resources.
CNAC, and its subsidiary, Air China, acquired a 17.5 percent stake in Cathay Pacific, and the airline doubled its shareholding in Air China to 17.5 percent.
CITIC Pacific reduced its shareholding to 17.5 percent and
Swire Group reduced its shareholding to 40 percent. Dragonair had originally planned significant international expansion. It was already operating services to
Bangkok and Tokyo, and was to have a dedicated cargo fleet of nine
Boeing 747-400BCF aircraft by 2009 operating to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and
Columbus. It had also acquired three
Airbus A330-300 aircraft to commence services to Sydney and
Seoul. Following the acquisition by Cathay Pacific, Dragonair's proposed expansion plans underwent a comprehensive route compatibility analysis with the Cathay network to reduce duplication. Dragonair services to Bangkok and Tokyo were terminated, and new services launched to Sendai, Phuket, Manila, and Kathmandu. With the merging of similar departments at the two previously separate airlines, some Dragonair staff have had their employment contracts transferred to Cathay Pacific, except Dragonair Pilots and Cabin Crew and others made redundant due to the efficiencies gained in the merger. This resulted in an approximately 37 percent decrease in the amount of staff contractually employed by Dragonair. In January 2016, Cathay Pacific announced it was rebranding Dragonair as
Cathay Dragon. On 21 October 2020, Cathay Pacific announced that it would shut down all operations of Cathay Dragon and merge it with its parent company due to the lack of customers and heavy economic problems brought by the
COVID-19 pandemic. This merger marked the end for the subsidiary carrier after 35 years of operation. Cathay Pacific and its wholly owned subsidiary,
HK Express, would take over Cathay Dragon's existing routes.
Economic challenges arrives at
London Heathrow Airport. To celebrate the airline's 60th anniversary in 2006, a year of roadshows named the "Cathay Pacific 60th Anniversary Skyshow" was held where the public could see the developments of the airline, play games, meet some of the airline staff, and view vintage uniforms. Cathay Pacific also introduced anniversary merchandise and
in-flight meals served by restaurants in Hong Kong in collaboration with the celebrations. In June 2008, Cathay Pacific entered into a
plea bargain with the
United States Department of Justice in respect of antitrust investigations over air cargo price-fixing agreements. It was fined US$60 million. The airline has subsequently set up an internal Competition Compliance Office, reporting to chief operating officer
John Slosar, to ensure that the Group complies with all relevant competition and antitrust laws in the jurisdiction in which it operates. The breaches for which Cathay Pacific Cargo were being investigated in the US were not illegal under Hong Kong competition law. In September 2008, three of Cathay Pacific's top ten global accounts, Lehmann Brothers, AIG and Merrill Lynch, hit financial trouble. In March 2009, the airline reported a record full-year loss of
HK$8.56 billion for 2008, which was also the carrier's first since the
1997 Asian financial crisis. The record loss included
fuel-hedging losses of HK$7.6 billion and a HK$468 million charge for a price-fixing fine in the US It had to scrap its final dividend. The hedging losses were a result of locking in fuel prices at higher than the prevailing market price. As of the end of 2008, Cathay Pacific has hedged about half of its fuel needs until the end of 2011. The airline at the time estimated that it would face no further cash costs from the hedges if the average market price stood at US$75, enabling it to recoup provisions it made in 2008. The flattening out of fuel prices resulted in Cathay Pacific recording a paper fuel hedging gain for its half-year reports for 2009. However, as a result of the global economic situation, the Group reported an operating loss. Given the current economic climate, and in line with the steps being taken by other major airlines around the world, the airline has undertaken a comprehensive review of all its routes and operations. This has resulted in frequencies being reduced to certain destinations, ad hoc cancellations on other routes, deferred capital expenditure, parked aircraft and introduced a Special Leave Scheme for staff to conserve money. According to CEO Tony Tyler, the yield from passengers was "hugely down" and the airline had lost "a lot of premium traffic". He noted that it could take 20 passengers in
economy to make up for the lost revenue of one fewer
first class passenger flying to New York from Hong Kong.
2010–2020: Scandals and stagnancy aircraft at
Hong Kong International Airport in 2018 In 2010, the airline set another record high profit, amounting to
HK$14.05 billion despite record losses set in the same decade. At the same time, Cathay Pacific had taken delivery of several new aircraft types, including the Airbus A330-300 and Boeing 777-300ER. Tony Tyler left his position as CEO at the airline on 31 March 2010 to pursue his new job at the IATA. Chief operating officer
John Slosar had succeeded as the new CEO. In addition, New Zealand's Commerce Commission had dropped charges against Cathay Pacific concerning the air cargo price-fixing agreements. In 2014, the airline underwent the largest network expansion in recent years which included the addition of links to
Manchester,
Zurich and
Boston. On 8 October 2016, Cathay Pacific retired their last passenger
Boeing 747 (a 747–400 with reg B-HUJ) with a farewell scenic flight around Hong Kong after more than 35 years of service of the type. Cathay operated the 747 since August 1979, when it was inaugurated on services to Australia. During the first half of 2016, Cathay Pacific's passenger yields fell 10 per cent, to the lowest in seven years as competing airlines from mainland China increased direct service to the U.S. and Europe, hurting the company's revenue from its Hong Kong hub. In October, Cathay Pacific scrapped its profit forecast for the second half of the year, less than two months after its issuance. From 15 September 2016, Cathay Pacific decided to reintroduce fuel surcharge on many flights after its half-year net profits dropped more than 80% and it suffered HK$4.5 billion loss from wrong bets on fuel prices.
2017–2019 transformation Under new leadership, the airline started to transform its business after suffering from 2 years of consecutive loss. The strategy focuses on 5Ps – Places, Planes, Product, People, and Productivity to find new sources of revenue, deliver more value to its customers and improve efficiency and productivity. The airline restructured its organisation to be more agile and faster in decision making as well as responding to customers' needs. It has also launched 13 new routes since 2017, introduced a wide range of changes to its service, including bringing back hot meals on its most busy
route between Hong Kong and Taipei, designed an inflight menu that features famous Hong Kong dishes served in all cabins, and revamped its Business Class service proposition to provide more choice, more personalisation, better presentation and improved quality in its food and beverages offerings. The airline has also invested significantly in other hard product and digital offerings such as an upgraded website, new or refurbished lounges across its network, including the first airline lounge yoga studio at The Pier – Business in Hong Kong. Wi-Fi was introduced in 2017 and will be retrofitted across its fleet by 2020. In February 2019, the airline issued a profit alert to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange indicating a profit of HK$2.3 billion for the 2018 financial year, signalling early signs of success of its transformation.
2018 data breach In 2018, the airline discovered a data breach. Data of around 9.4 million passengers were compromised during the breach, with 860,000 passport numbers, 245,000 Hong Kong identity card numbers, 403 expired credit card numbers, and 27 credit card numbers without CVV being accessed. However, no passwords were stolen. The breach was suspected in March 2018, but was confirmed only in May 2018. In March 2020, the company was fined £500,000 (U.S. $639,600) by the British Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and avoided the heftier penalty of U.S. $564 million under the European Union's GDPR-derived data privacy laws, which were not in force during the discovery of the breach.
2019: Acquisition of HK Express On 27 March 2019, Cathay Pacific officially announced it would acquire
HK Express, the only low-cost carrier in Hong Kong, citing to "expect synergies in generating a new business model and is a practical way to support long-term development and to enhance competitiveness". The transaction takes Cathay Pacific HK$4.93 billion total. The transaction was closed in July 2019, and HK Express became Cathay Pacific's wholly owned subsidiary.
2019–2020: Hong Kong protests During the
2019–20 Hong Kong protests, Cathay Pacific employees participated in protests at
Hong Kong International Airport. The Beijing government, which is a shareholder in Cathay Pacific, ordered Cathay to suspend any employees who participated in the protest. Cathay chairman
John Slosar responded, "We employ 27,000 staff in Hong Kong doing all sorts of different jobs... we certainly wouldn't dream of telling them what they have to think about something." Cathay Pacific later suspended a pilot who was arrested during a protest, and CEO
Rupert Hogg declared his support of the government, and reiterated that employees who violated the company's code of conduct could be dismissed. On 16 August, Hogg resigned due to "intense criticism" from Chinese authorities as a result of Cathay staff participating in the protests. Chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo also resigned. By late September, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon had terminated the employment of 31 aviation professionals, or forced their resignations, on the basis of their participation in protests or expressions of support for them.
2020–present: COVID-19 pandemic, recovery and ongoing developments 2020: Recapitalisation and government bailout On 9 June 2020, Cathay Pacific,
Swire Pacific and
Air China halted stock trading pending an announcement. On 10 June, Cathay Pacific and the
Government of Hong Kong jointly announced a HK$39 billion recapitalisation plan and rescue package for Cathay Pacific. In the rescue package, the Government of Hong Kong will be issued HK$19.5 billion dividend-paying preference shares and HK$1.95 billion of warrants, giving it a 6% stake. The stake of the three major stakeholders, Swire Pacific, Air China, and
Qatar Airways, would fall to 42%, 28% and 9.4% due to the government stake. Also, Cathay Pacific would receive a HK$7.8 billion bridging loan and the Government would have the right to appoint two observers on Cathay's board. The finance secretary of the HKSAR Government Paul Chan said, "It is not our intention to become a long-term shareholder of Cathay Pacific."
2020–2022: COVID-19 pandemic The
COVID-19 pandemic led to travel bans and significantly reduced flight demands, which caused Cathay Pacific to cut international flights in response. In 2020, 96% of all flights from March to May were cancelled, while the group's subsidiary
HKExpress suspended all flight operations from 23 March to 30 April 2020, due to reduced demand. At one point during the crisis, only 582 passengers flew with Cathay Pacific in an entire day. In December 2020, the company said that it expected losses in the second half to be higher than the losses of the first half due to low demand, restructuring charges, and impairments on its fleet. In 2021, the company posted a record annual loss of US$2.8 billion for 2020. It was also announced that the company would cut an additional 8,500 jobs. On 22 April 2021, the company began its job cuts by closing its Canada pilot base, on the same day they began consultation with pilots at their Australia and New Zealand pilot bases regarding base closure in those jurisdictions. Pilots with the right to live and work in Hong Kong would be offered employment, however, those without the right to live and work in Hong Kong would face redundancy. On the same day, the company announced that they would review its bases in Europe and the United States later in the year. On 12 May 2021, the company announced the closing of its Frankfurt pilot base. Around 50 pilots' jobs were at risk. As with the Canada base closing announced two and a half weeks earlier, pilots with the right to live and work in Hong Kong would be offered jobs, while those without the right to live and work in Hong Kong would face redundancy. In June 2021, the company said that losses in 1H 2021 were expected to be lower than US$1.27 billion in 2020, due to cost-saving measures and strong demand for cargo flights. In 2023 and in conjunction with the
Airport Authority Hong Kong's "World of Winners" campaign, which aimed to promote tourism within
Hong Kong, the airline provided some of the 500,000 tickets in the campaign, and released them in tranches for each region. Participants were required to register for its frequent flyer program and fill in a registration form on the date for the region the participant was in. Cathay Pacific placed 76 aircraft in storage in
Alice Springs, Australia. The last aircraft has returned to service in June 2024 after four years in storage.
2023–2024: Mass flight cancellations From December 2023 to January 2024, Cathay had to trim its schedules by an average of twelve flights per day through to the end of February to avoid significant flight cancellations over the peak Lunar New Year period. The pre-emptive decision comes as the airline grapples with a significant pilot shortage. The cancellations were mainly on routes with multiple daily services, allowing Cathay to transfer booked passengers onto same day services. The carrier is also under some scrutiny in Hong Kong after a spate of flight cancellations since 24 December 2023, including forty flights over four days. Cancellations peaked on 7 January when the airline axed 27 flights at short notice. After slashing its workforce during the
COVID-19 pandemic, local news outlets say Cathay Pacific is now experiencing significant difficulties recruiting pilots, especially senior pilots. According to
The Straits Times, around 1,000 of the airline's 4,000 pilots were made redundant during the pandemic, while a further 1,000 resigned, effectively reducing Cathay's pilot pool by 50% over the period. On 12 December 2024, it was reported that Cathay have met their target of hiring 3,400 pilots to bring the airline back to pre-pandemic capacity. The airline is also planning to add another 100 pilots in January 2025. Prior to the pandemic, Cathay had a base of 3,800 pilots. Cathay Pacific announced on the 8 June 2023 its return to
Christchurch. With its first post-pandemic seasonal service starting on December 16, 2023, running through February 2024, and has since become a regular summer fixture, with services starting even earlier, such as November 3, 2025, for the upcoming season, offering more capacity and better connectivity to Asia.
2024–present In 2024,
Cathay Pacific introduced its
sonic identity, titled “Song of Cathay”, created in collaboration with the agency
Sixième Son. Designed as a musical expression of the brand’s travel experience, it is deployed across multiple touchpoints including lounges, aircraft cabins and digital platforms. In 2025, Cathay Pacific announced that the airline will be returning to
Rome,
Brussels and
Hyderabad - destinations that they used to serve pre-pandemic, along with new addition of
Munich and
Dallas - marking the carrier's 12th destination in Europe and 8th destination in North America. Cathay Pacific also announced a new route to
Urumqi, China, its longest route into mainland China. With the addition of these new routes, the Cathay Pacific Group, along with its subsidiary, now serves more than 100 destinations worldwide, surpassing pre-pandemic figures. In autumn 2025, Cathay Pacific announced the resumption of services to
Adelaide starting on 11 November 2025, after being originally suspended due to COVID-19. This service will operate three times weekly as part of the winter seasonal schedule. ==Corporate affairs, identity and senior leadership==