Being the first air service provider, Cathay Pacific (in simplified Chinese国泰航空有限公司) has a very long history.

Cathay Pacific Airways was registered at September 24, 1946 in Hong Kong by the United States-born Roy C Farrell and Australian Sydney H. De Kantzow. At first, they were actually businessmen from Shanghai who operated a firm called “O-Wah Import and Export Trading”. However, since the Chinese government was practicing protectionism, the two men decided to close their business in Shanghai and operate Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong.

In 1958, Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong was invited to operate some routes originally run by the previous Air Hong Kong, including flights to Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul. In 1980s, as the economic development of Hong Kong was getting more and more rapid, Cathay Pacific was also able to develop at full speed and by this golden chance, the company was able to establish an international route network. In 1988, Cathay Pacific even introduced a Boeing 747-400 passenger plane, which is one of the first airlines in the world introducing this jumbo jet.

In the 1980s, the Hong Kong Government announced that for every route of flight, there would only be one company operating. This aviation policy is very beneficial to Cathay Pacific because at that time, Cathay Pacific had been developing quite well and it had a rich background and resources to obtain the routes’ license. Therefore, it is able to beat down the rival, Dragonair, and develop into such a successful airline.

Of course, besides this exclusive right, Cathay Pacific itself has also done a lot of things to improve the quality of services. For example, it is quite harsh to its crew members. There would be annual assessment on every crew member and there would not be any chance for those who receive too many complaints to fly again. Of course, in order to get talents, the welfare system of Cathay Pacific was also quite well at that time and many people would like to be part of this team.