Cathay Pacific Boeing 747
One of the world’s most successful and resilient airlines, Cathay Pacific was formed in September 1946 by Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow, former US Army Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force pilots respectively, who had met while flying cargo flights from India to China during World War II. Using a single war surplus Douglas DC-3, the two pilots flew the airline’s first flight themselves, from Sydney to Shanghai via Manila. The name Cathay Pacific came from Farrell and de Kantzow’s hope that one day their airline would fly from China (Cathay) across the Pacific. Their prediction would be proven accurate.
By 1948, Cathay Pacific had acquired another DC-3, and Farrell and de Kantzow put the airline up for sale, with both men retaining 20 percent shares. Cathay Pacific’s controlling interest was bought by the Swire Group, a British-Chinese trading company founded in 1861; the Swire Group today still owns the controlling interest in the airline. Using Douglas DC-4s and DC-6s, Cathay Pacific expanded its routes throughout Southeast Asia and Japan, though it was barred from flying to the People’s Republic of China after the Chinese Revolution ended in 1949. It was able to buy out Hong Kong Airlines in 1959, becoming the Hong Kong Crown Colony flag carrier; in 1964 it entered the jet age with the purchase of Convair 880s.
Even further expansion continued, with Chinese service reopened by 1974, service to London by 1980, and nonstop service to Vancouver, Canada in 1983—realizing its founders’ dream of transpacific service. By this time, its fleet was mostly Lockheed L-1011 Tristars (the largest non-American operator of the type) and Boeing 747s, the latter of which was truly a challenge to operate from Cathay Pacific’s headquarters of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak International Airport.
If anything could stop Cathay Pacific’s growth, it might be the return of Hong Kong to China, scheduled for 1997. This proved to be less trouble than originally thought, and aside from the removal of the British Union Jack from the tail and changing registrations, Cathay Pacific continued operations as before. It changed its livery to a more modern white over gray fuselage color, removing the three green stripes that had been the company’s trademark to a single dark green stripe and a stylized bird, nicknamed the “Brushwing.” It remained the flag carrier for Hong Kong after 1997, using the city’s flag rather than China’s. Cathay Pacific pioneered a transpolar route from Hong Kong to New York in 1998, which at over 8000 miles is one of the longest in operation, and was both the last airline to depart Kai Tak and the first to arrive at Hong Kong’s new airport, Chep Lap Kok.
Cathay Pacific today is one of the world’s most successful and safest airlines (its last fatal accident, a terrorist bombing, occurred in 1972), serving over 160 destinations worldwide. It weathered the 1998 Asian currency crisis and post-9/11 downturn, along with labor problems. Besides its own airline operations, Cathay Pacific also operates a cargo division (the world’s largest) and owns subsidiaries Air Hong Kong and Dragonair. It operates a fleet of mostly Airbus A340s and Boeing 777s.
VR-HKG served its entire existence with Cathay Pacific from 1979 to 1997, when it was retired and scrapped at Victorville, California in 1999.
Cathay Pacific Boeing 747
One of the world’s most successful and resilient airlines, Cathay Pacific was formed in September 1946 by Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow, former US Army Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force pilots respectively, who had met while flying cargo flights from India to China during World War II. Using a single war surplus Douglas DC-3, the two pilots flew the airline’s first flight themselves, from Sydney to Shanghai via Manila. The name Cathay Pacific came from Farrell and de Kantzow’s hope that one day their airline would fly from China (Cathay) across the Pacific. Their prediction would be proven accurate.
By 1948, Cathay Pacific had acquired another DC-3, and Farrell and de Kantzow put the airline up for sale, with both men retaining 20 percent shares. Cathay Pacific’s controlling interest was bought by the Swire Group, a British-Chinese trading company founded in 1861; the Swire Group today still owns the controlling interest in the airline. Using Douglas DC-4s and DC-6s, Cathay Pacific expanded its routes throughout Southeast Asia and Japan, though it was barred from flying to the People’s Republic of China after the Chinese Revolution ended in 1949. It was able to buy out Hong Kong Airlines in 1959, becoming the Hong Kong Crown Colony flag carrier; in 1964 it entered the jet age with the purchase of Convair 880s.
Even further expansion continued, with Chinese service reopened by 1974, service to London by 1980, and nonstop service to Vancouver, Canada in 1983—realizing its founders’ dream of transpacific service. By this time, its fleet was mostly Lockheed L-1011 Tristars (the largest non-American operator of the type) and Boeing 747s, the latter of which was truly a challenge to operate from Cathay Pacific’s headquarters of Hong Kong’s Kai Tak International Airport.
If anything could stop Cathay Pacific’s growth, it might be the return of Hong Kong to China, scheduled for 1997. This proved to be less trouble than originally thought, and aside from the removal of the British Union Jack from the tail and changing registrations, Cathay Pacific continued operations as before. It changed its livery to a more modern white over gray fuselage color, removing the three green stripes that had been the company’s trademark to a single dark green stripe and a stylized bird, nicknamed the “Brushwing.” It remained the flag carrier for Hong Kong after 1997, using the city’s flag rather than China’s. Cathay Pacific pioneered a transpolar route from Hong Kong to New York in 1998, which at over 8000 miles is one of the longest in operation, and was both the last airline to depart Kai Tak and the first to arrive at Hong Kong’s new airport, Chep Lap Kok.
Cathay Pacific today is one of the world’s most successful and safest airlines (its last fatal accident, a terrorist bombing, occurred in 1972), serving over 160 destinations worldwide. It weathered the 1998 Asian currency crisis and post-9/11 downturn, along with labor problems. Besides its own airline operations, Cathay Pacific also operates a cargo division (the world’s largest) and owns subsidiaries Air Hong Kong and Dragonair. It operates a fleet of mostly Airbus A340s and Boeing 777s.
VR-HKG served its entire existence with Cathay Pacific from 1979 to 1997, when it was retired and scrapped at Victorville, California in 1999.