In Celebration of its 50th Anniversary in Korea

Cathay Pacific Airways started its business in Korea in July, 1960 as only the second foreign airline to offer services to and from Korea. It is one of the largest companies in Hong Kong, hiring 20,070 in Hong Kong alone and 26,829 worldwide. Currently, there are approximately 100 employees working at its Korea branch.

Cathay Pacific's Korea branch is considered to be one of its most important branch offices, showing remarkable improvement since it was first launched. With the number of passengers flying from Korea gradually increasing the airline has begun to aggressively conduct marketing towards female clients aged between 25 and 35 who now seem to be the main market in the Korean travel industry.

The airline currently has roughly 110 routes around the world, and is considered the perfect airline for the Korea - Hong Kong route, which it operates four times a day. Recently, the airline has been focusing on improving its services for those flying long-distance, introducing rear-fixed seats in the economy class as an effort to improve and innovate its services. Last year, the company received the “Airline of the Year 2009,” award for its distinguished high-end, premium services.

Cathay Pacific's in-flight meal is one of the airline's “Core-Service Product,” and is utilized as one of the means to maintain its high-end service quality. It was one of the first airlines in the world to stock rice, bread, eggs, and cooking equipment such as rice cookers, toasters and frying pans on planes so that flight attendants can cook simple meals if the need arises. From 2001, the airline introduced its “Best Chinese Food in the Air” campaign in which it offered food from a renowned Chinese restaurant in Hong Kong to passengers on top of their regular in-flight meals. This service was extremely popular among passengers and caused a sensation in the aviation industry. The airline stocks about 40 different kinds of wine on board, serving approximately 1,300,000 bottles of wine annually in total. The quality of wine it serves was recognized as being the best by industry professionals, and the airline continues to put its utmost efforts in maintaining the best quality of wines on board despite in-flight conditions not being favorable for keeping wine at its best quality. The airline not only selects the best wines from around the world, but also considers their harmony with in-flight meals and the nationalities of passengers in order to provide the best in-flight meal experience.

The airline, which currently operates four flights daily between Seoul and Hong Kong, is planning to increase this number. Starting from May 3, one additional flight and from July 1 three additional flights will be added. These additions and the enhancement of services are especially meaningful since 2010 is the 50th anniversary of the company flying to and from Korea. The airline plans to conduct various promotional events in celebration this special occasion. One such event is its “Hong Kong Disneyland Package,” which will mainly be targeting families with children. The package, only available from March to July 15, includes round tickets to Hong Kong, accommodation, one-day passes to Disneyland and limousine services between the airport and the hotel. More packages and promotions are scheduled to follow throughout this year in celebration of its half century anniversary.