Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways was founded in 1946 by Roy C Farrell and Sydney H. De Kantzow. The airline started out by offering travel fights to Manila, Bangkok, Singapore and Shanghai. The travel company expanded quickly and in 1948 Butterfield and Swire took a 45% share in Cathay Pacific. The travel airline carried their one-millionth passenger eighteen years after the company started business. By 1973, they were carrying about a million passengers a year and today each month they carry about a million passengers.

For Cathay, travel business grew about 20% each year from 1962-1967. During that time they also started international services. Destinations included Osaka, Fukuoka and Nagoya in Japan. They began using flight simulators and computerized reservation systems in the 70’s. By the middle of 1979, Cathay had their first Boeing 747-200. They applied for the traffic rights so they could fly to London in the same year. Their fleet continued to grow with the addition of more B747’s. Therefore Cathay started offering services to North American and Europe.

During the 1980’s there was an increase in the amount of business and tourist travelers. This was the time when Cathay Pacific expanded their travel routes even more. They now offered flights to London, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Zurich, Manchester and San Francisco. In the early 90’s, Cathay launched programs because they wanted to offer travelling passenger service that was unmatched by any other airline. For the airline industry as a whole, the early 90’s brought hard times for many airline carriers. However, Cathay always kept a positive attitude believing that Hong Kong was the best place to have an airline. They did indeed continue to be successful.

Cathay is still going strong today. Not only do they do well in their passenger services, but about 30 percent of their revenue comes from cargo services today. For the new millennium the travel company began making more technological advancements. Cathay Pacific is responsive to the changing needs of the market and continues to strive to improve upon their already excellent services.

If you are planning only a one journey this year then a single trip travel insurance policy will be useful to insure your on your travels.