On Sunday, August 31, the sole remaining Cathay Pacific 747-400 in North America will make its final voyage from SFO to Hong Kong when flight CX879 takes off at 1:45pm PDT. Beginning Monday, September 1, CX879 will join SFO’s other daily flight (CX873) and Cathay Pacific’s six other North American gateways (Chicago, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Toronto and Vancouver) in a 100% Boeing 777-300ER operation. Boston, which will become the airline’s seventh North American gateway in May 2015, will also offer a 777-300ER service four times per week. Cathay Pacific will continue to operate the Boeing 747-8 freighter fleet for cargo flights to 15 cities across the Americas.

“The Boeing 747 put Cathay Pacific on the map and helped propel us into the world-class global carrier that we are today,” said Cathay Pacific Senior Vice President, Americas, Tom Owen. “There is so much affection for this aircraft from our customers, pilots, engineers and ground staff alike and it has been an incredibly important aircraft for Cathay’s overall long-haul evolution. While we bid adieu to the 747, Cathay is proud to have one of the youngest fleets in the world, and we will operate the fuel-efficient and environmentally beneficial Boeing 777-300ER on all of our North American flights beginning September 1.”

Cathay Pacific made its first direct order for the 747-200 series from Boeing in February 1978 and the first aircraft arrived in Hong Kong in mid-1979. In the 1980s, thanks to the Boeing 747, Cathay Pacific expanded its international network to include San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Zurich and Manchester.

Cathay Pacific was the first airline to operate a non-stop flight from New York JFK to Hong Kong over the North Pole in June 1998 – known as “Polar One” – to commemorate the opening of the new Hong Kong International Airport.

ENDS

About Cathay Pacific:

The international flag carrier of Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific Airways operates 111 flights per week to Hong Kong and beyond, including over 22 destinations in Mainland China, from five cities in the USA and two in Canada: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York (JFK), Newark, San Francisco, Toronto and Vancouver.

2014 saw a huge increase in capacity, with the launch of a daily Newark service, the addition of a fourth daily flight from Los Angeles, three additional flights per week from Chicago, and beginning in May 2015, a new four-times-weekly Boston to Hong Kong service. Cathay Pacific Cargo freighters service 15 cities across the Americas using the latest 747-8 equipment and will add its sixteenth  point to Calgary from October 2014.

Cathay Pacific is a member of the oneworld alliance.

More information, including current fares and availability, may be found by visiting the airline’s website at cathaypacific.com/us, Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cathaypacificus, or Twitter handle @CathayPacificUS. For North American reservations, dial toll-free: 1-800-233-2742.

Cathay Pacific Airways was awarded the “World’s Best Airline” honor in the 2014 annual Skytrax World Airline Awards™ for a record fourth time – the only airline to achieve such a feat – with more than 18 million airline passengers from around the world voting for their favourite travel experiences.

Contact:
Julie Jarratt, Communications Manager, Americas
415.848.2006 or Julie_Jarratt@CathayPacific.com