34 years old American pilot and businessman Roy Farrell and 32 years old Australian pilot Sydney de Kantzow founded this airline on 24 September 1946 in Hong Kong. Both veteran pilots spent HK$1 to register the airline and named it Cathay Pacific as “Cathay” was the ancient name of China and they believed they will fly across the pacific. “Gou Tai”, is the Mandarin name for the airline which derives from a Chinese idiom that means “Grand and Peaceful State”. The maiden voyage for Cathay Pacific was from Hong Kong to Manila by “Besty”, a Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Under the stewardship of these two men, Cathay Pacific had carried around 3,000 passengers and over 15 tons of cargo between the Asia and Australia routes besides acquired second DC-3 aircraft by the end of 1946. In 1948, Butterfield & Swire (Swire Group) and Australian National Airways bought 45% and 35% of the airline respectively as the British governor of Hong Kong informed Roy and Sydney that they were barred from having more than 20% of the airline as …show more content…
This award winning airline is deeply committed to develop Hong Kong into a top-tier international hub for both passengers and cargo as the Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) is 127,215 million in 2013and an increase of 3.3% in passengers carried to 29.9 million compared to 2012. Moreover, revenue stands at HK$71,826 million, as increased of 2.4% while the load factor grew to 82.2%. Flights to Japan has been increased due to the strong demand as the currency of Japan, yen has depreciated nearly 18 percent. Furthermore, Cathay Pacific has added more capacity to routes such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai, London and Frankfurt. Besides that, this international airline invested heavily in its cargo operation. Cathay Pacific Cargo operates a fleet of more than 20 aircrafts to over 40 destinations in 5 continents. The $5.5 billion brand new Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal is the commitment for Cathay Pacific to be the world’s best air cargo terminal as safety and security are its top priority besides building trusts and partnerships for customers from all over the word. 1.5 million tons of freight and goods was carried in 2013 which generated revenue of HK$20,293 million. The reputable airline has gone through a rebranding and renewal programme by replacing the green and white striped painting with the “brushwing” livery and