With its focus squarely on rebuilding its network and connectivity at its Hong Kong hub after the pandemic, Cathay Pacific is marking a milestone this month: 40 years of flying to the Americas. The launch of non-stop service between Hong Kong and Vancouver International Airport on May 1, 1983, which started with flight CX800, a Boeing 747-200, not only represented the airline’s first entry into North America, but also becoming the first airline in the world to connect the two cities with a nonstop service.

Cathay says Vancouver is now one of the airline’s biggest markets outside of Hong Kong, the city it has called home since its founding by American Roy C. Farrell and Australian Sydney H. de Kantzow in 1946.

The HKG-YVR service began with two flights per week in each direction. Groundbreaking at the time, the flight enabled travellers a non-stop option for the first time, which reduced the total journey by more than two hours versus the previously established route via Japan.

Cathay Pacific opened its first ticket office on March 16, 1983, at 1018 West Georgia St., in the heart of Vancouver’s “airline row”, employing 26 in sales, marketing and reservations. Today, the airline employs close to 300 employees throughout Canada, Mexico, and the US, spanning cargo, engineering, finance, sales, marketing, airport, revenue management, and human resources.

In 1986, Cathay Pacific added a San Francisco tag to its Vancouver service –with flights departing SFO, stopping in YVR before continuing to Hong Kong.

And further expansion continued apace over the years, with Cathay Pacific launching services to Hong Kong from Los Angeles (1990), Toronto (1994), a standalone SFO flight in 1998, New York (JFK) in 2004, Chicago O’Hare (2011), Newark (2013), Boston (2015), Washington Dulles (2018), and Seattle (2019).

Cathay Pacific’s legendary JFK-YVR-HKG flight – beloved by aviation geeks and passengers alike for the opportunity to hop between JFK-YVR on a world-class global carrier – was added in 1996, before its discontinuation in 2019.

Cathay Pacific’s cargo business in the Americas has been a resounding success.

Chris van den Hooven, SVP, Americas, who will celebrate his 36-year anniversary with Cathay Pacific this year after starting as Reservation Sales Agent in Vancouver recalls, “As a young adventurer with ambitions of seeing the world, I jumped at the chance to join an up-and-coming Asian airline in 1987 during a pivotal time in its expansion.

“Cathay Pacific made its first direct order for the 747-200 series from Boeing in February 1978. In the 1980s, the Boeing 747 enabled Cathay Pacific to expand its international network to San Francisco, Vancouver, and other ultra-long-haul destinations… The ‘Queen of the Skies’ put Cathay Pacific on the map and helped propel us into the world-class global carrier that we are today.”

Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Toronto) director Emily Mo, hailed the carrier’s milestone, stating “Cathay Pacific has been playing a pivotal role in connecting Hong Kong and Canada over the past decades.”

Michael Lim, Canadian director for the Hong Kong Tourism Board, notes that airline not only brings people to Hong Kong but to the rest of Asia,” and adds that recent launch of the Hello Hong Kong campaign and the lifting of travel restrictions has rekindled travellers’ interest in the destination.

Cathay Pacific’s 40-year anniversary in the Americas comes at a significant time: in 2023, Cathay Pacific’s focus is on rebuilding its network and connectivity at its Hong Kong hub after three challenging years of pandemic reductions. The airline currently operates over 50 flights per week out of North America from six cities (Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Toronto, and Vancouver) – nearly half of its pre-pandemic capacity in the Americas – but with more flights added every month.

This year will also see the reopening of Cathay Pacific’s airport lounges at San Francisco and Vancouver; and the airline will take delivery of two state-of-the-art Airbus A350-1000 aircraft.