Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, founded in 1946, is a listed company in Hong Kong, owning the Cathay Pacific Airways/Cathay Dragon brand, the first Asian airline in Hong Kong to provide civil aviation services

Cathay Pacific was founded on 24 September 1946 by Roy C Farrell of the United States and Sydney H de Kantzow of Australia. Initially, they were based in Shanghai, but later decided to move to Hong Kong and set up the airline (Cathay Pacific is said to have been named after Farrell and a group of foreign correspondents at the bar of the Manila Hotel!).

成立初期，国泰开办往返马尼拉、曼谷、新加坡及上海的客运及货运航班，业务发展十分理想。1948年Hong Kong最主要的商行之一的 Butterfield & Swire(即太古集团前身)，收购了国泰的四成半股权。于John Kidston Swire的领导下，Butterfield & Swire 随即全权负责国泰的营运。

In the 10 years since then, Cathay Pacific has expanded its fleet and improved its services with the introduction of First Class and Economy Class seats.

The 80s were a new milestone in aviation. At a time when the global economy was taking off, especially in Asia, business travellers, tourists and cargo business were increasing at an unprecedented rate. Cathay Pacific also took advantage of the changing times and needs to develop its international route network at full speed in the 80s, including flights to London, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Vancouver, Amsterdam, Rome, San Francisco, Paris, Zurich and Manchester.

Despite 10 years of prosperity, the early 90s were a difficult time for the aviation industry. However, Cathay Pacific remains strong in the aviation industry because we believe that Hong Kong is not only our home, but also our best base. That's why we're not afraid of adversity and we're offering a better passenger service at this time. In addition, we have also made an important change - the green and white appearance of the aircraft has been transformed into a more contemporary and representative "brushstroke" logo that will dazzle the eyes of passengers around the world.

By the mid-90s, Cathay Pacific had assembled one of the most advanced and "young" fleets in the world. At the same time, however, we are still undertaking a fleet replacement programme and are spending US$9 billion on new aircraft to keep our fleet newer, quieter and significantly less maintenance.

Completed in mid-1999 at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA), Cathay Pacific Headquarters Cathay City is a massive project that marks Cathay Pacific's confidence in Hong Kong's future and ushers the business into a new era.

Heading into the millennium, we made a huge profit of HK$5 billion in 2000, but in the years that followed, we faced serious challenges such as the 911 incident in the United States, the second Gulf War and the SARS epidemic.

Despite the difficult business environment, we actively launched a large-scale Hong Kong tourism promotion campaign after the 911 incident in the United States, including the "Cathay Pacific 10,000 Free Air Tickets" campaign, and also organised the "One for Hong Kong" campaign to help revive Hong Kong's economy, which had been severely hit by SARS.

Cathay Pacific has also strengthened Hong Kong's connectivity with other global hubs through frequent daily flights to London, Los Angeles, New York and Sydney, as well as enhanced services to other major long-haul and regional destinations.

In 2006, the same year as the company's 60th anniversary, Cathay Pacific signed an agreement to establish a closer partnership with Air China, holding a 17.5% stake in the company, and at the same time integrating Dragonair as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Group, combining Cathay Pacific's international aviation network with Dragonair's Mainland network covering more than 20 cities.

Subsequently, the Cathay Pacific Group immediately set about integrating the networks of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair to strengthen the connectivity of Hong Kong's aviation hub. Since the consolidation, Dragonair has enhanced its services through Cathay Pacific's extensive international network with the opening of a total of eight new destinations, providing passengers with more choices and strengthening Hong Kong's position as an aviation hub.