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Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s most developed economy with key industries including manufacturing, mining and industrial production. It is Hong Kong’s largest trading partner and leading export market in the region. Meanwhile, demand between the Chinese Mainland and Central Asia has grown steadily in recent years, underpinned by trade, investment and Belt and Road activity. The country also has a growing tourism sector offering summer and winter outdoor activities and is set to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.

Together, Cathay Pacific and HK Express operate close to 600 return flights per week to 33 Belt and Road destinations. The Group also operates more than 330 return flights per week between Hong Kong and 24 destinations in the Chinese Mainland.

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The 8 new A350Fs will complement Cathay Cargo’s fleet of 20 Boeing 747 freighters, including 14 B747-8Fs and six B747-400ERFs. In addition to freighter capacity, Cathay Cargo provides belly capacity through the Cathay Group’s passenger network serving more than 100 destinations worldwide.

The Cathay Group has orders for more than 100 state-of-the-art narrowbody, regional widebody, long-haul widebody and large freighter aircraft as part of its all-encompassing fleet renewal and expansion plan.

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As part of Cathay’s 80th anniversary celebrations, the inaugural Hong Kong-Seattle flight was operated by the airline’s special-edition Airbus A350-900 featuring its iconic “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery, honouring eight decades of moving its home city, people and customers forward since 1946.

This summer, Cathay Pacific is operating close to 120 return flights per week to nine passenger destinations across North America, including Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Vancouver.

The new Seattle service also provides more options for cargo customers, with the belly space on Cathay Pacific’s passenger flights complementing the close to 40 weekly return freighter flights operated by Cathay Cargo to North America during the summer peak.

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Cathay Pacific’s Boeing 777-300ER aircraft adorned with the Spirit of Hong Kong livery is inspired by Cathay Pacific’s award-winning “Gallery in the Skies” concept in its Business class cabins. The livery features an innovative artwork by Hong Kong multimedia artist Victor Wong using technology that allows him to generate landscapes from geographical data he provides.

As a centrepiece of Cathay’s 80th anniversary and a platform to showcase WestK’s artistic vision, the new livery transforms the aircraft into a flying canvas that takes people, cultures and ideas forward while bringing fresh inspiration to the city. The livery carries both Cathay’s “80 Years Together” anniversary mark and the WestK logo, representing a shared commitment to showcasing the essence of Hong Kong’s arts and culture to destinations around the world.

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Cathay achieved another milestone year for its Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Programme in 2025, as more corporate and cargo customers join forces to decarbonise business travel and air cargo shipments. This growth was enabled by 17 global partners, whose commitment and leadership have helped keep the programme positioned as one of the leading initiatives of its kind globally.

Together, the corporate partners have committed to using around 17,400 tonnes of SAF, representing an increase of nearly 180% compared with 2024. This is equivalent to a reduction of approximately 54,600 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions on a lifecycle basis — equal to the emissions of about 61,800 Economy class round trips between Hong Kong and London.

Cathay welcomed Microsoft as a new partner to the programme in 2025, collaborating to address emissions from both air cargo and business travel. Kuehne + Nagel, a Diamond partner of the programme since 2024, remained the largest cargo contributor in 2025, while the partnership with DHL Express also enabled the first SAF uplift on flights operated by Air Hong Kong, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Cathay Group.

Several Diamond partners of the programme, including EQT, have entered into multi-year SAF commitments with Cathay demonstrating a long-term commitment to scaling SAF and credibly reducing their climate impact from business travel and airfreight. DSV and EY are also among the programme’s 2025 Diamond partners, contributing towards the adoption of SAF.

In addition to the Corporate SAF Programme, Cathay is also working to enable individual travellers to take part in aviation decarbonisation. With the launch of the dedicated SAF contribution platform in 2025, Cathay Pacific became the first airline in Asia to introduce a membership-linked digital platform that encourages individual SAF contributions.

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To usher in this milestone year and honour its legacy of bringing people together, Cathay will be hosting a series of special events, initiatives and activations throughout 2026 — all anchored by the unifying theme of “80 Years Together”.

As a prelude to its “80 Years Together” celebrations, Cathay unveiled a special retro livery on one of its Airbus A350-900s (B-LRJ). Adorned with the airline’s iconic “lettuce leaf sandwich” design as well as the 80th anniversary year mark, the livery pays homage to the much-loved green-and-white striped paint scheme, echoing Cathay’s storied legacy while symbolising its continued growth and progress.

A second “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery on one of Cathay’s Boeing 747 freighters will also be revealed in the coming weeks.

Cabin crew donning Cathay Pacific’s vintage uniforms through various design eras also made a special appearance, paying tribute to the generations of people who have defined the signature Cathay service in the skies. Throughout 2026, around 1,000 to 2,000 of Cathay’s cabin crew and ground employees will wear and showcase these vintage uniforms at work, bringing the evolution of the Cathay brand to life.

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As the exclusive Founding Travel Partner at Kai Tak Sports Park, Cathay is committed to supporting the development of sports, arts and culture, and promoting mega events that put Hong Kong on the world stage. The Cathay-branded West Bridge is the latest initiative in Cathay’s partnership with KTSP, offering an audio-visual experience stretching close to 100 metres that transforms the walk between Sung Wong Toi MTR and the Kai Tak Stadium into a vibrant timeline.

The Cathay-branded West Bridge is the Greater Bay Area’s first aviation-themed audio-visual experience within a sports venue. Visitors to the West Bridge can enjoy a two-minute-long experience that captures Cathay’s early beginnings in the 1940s with its first aircraft “Betsy” taking off to the skies, the 1960s where Cathay soared through Kowloon City, and the ’80 and ’90s with customers flying to popular destinations around the world.

This transitions to the modern day, showcasing Hong Kong’s athletes who Cathay sponsors as they perform on the biggest stages, and its aircraft performing the iconic fly by at the most recent Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens to mark the event’s debut at Kai Tak Stadium. Along the way, memories of the old Kai Tak Airport’s legendary runway, sporting triumphs, and Cathay’s inspiring firsts unfold, ensuring that every visitor feels part of Hong Kong’s dynamic story.

Presented by Cathay, the “Taking off Again with Kai Tak” audio-visual experience will be open daily from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm from 12 November until 31 December 2025*. Visitors from Hong Kong and around the world are invited to immerse themselves in this extraordinary journey through time and explore the unique stories of Cathay, Kai Tak and Hong Kong.

About Kai Tak Sports Park

Kai Tak Sports Park is a fully integrated sports, leisure and entertainment destination. The 28-hectare Sports Park will be part of the redevelopment on the site of the old Hong Kong International Airport in Kai Tak. The Sports Park features a 50,000-seat Main Stadium (named Kai Tak Stadium) with a retractable roof, Indoor Sport Centre (named Kai Tak Arena) with the flexibility to host community sports and events of up to 10,000 seats, and a Public Sports Group (named Kai Tak Youth Sports Ground) with a capacity of 5,000 seats. These venues will be complemented with extensive public open spaces for events and leisure together with retail and harbour front dining spaces.

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Cathay Pacific’s new service reestablishes an important direct connection between these two vibrant cities, supporting enhanced travel, trade and cultural exchange between Asia and Australia.

Cathay Chief Customer and Commercial Officer Lavinia Lau said: “We are delighted to return to Adelaide, a city we have a long history with having first launched flights in 1992. Adelaide is a dynamic city on the South Australia coast that offers visitors incredible culinary delights, world-renowned wines, stunning natural attractions, and much more. We look forward to welcoming customers onboard to experience our signature Cathay Pacific service, whether they are flying to this dynamic city, our home hub, or beyond.”

Travellers can enjoy the comfort of Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A350-900 aircraft when flying between Hong Kong and Adelaide. The aircraft is equipped to deliver a premium experience in every cabin with fully flat beds in Business, spacious seats in Premium Economy, and comfort in the airline’s awarding-winning Economy cabin.

Customers can also enjoy the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment experience during their journey, along with inflight menus developed in collaboration with Michelin-starred Hong Kong restaurants on flights departing Hong Kong.

Wi-Fi connectivity is available across Cathay Pacific’s entire fleet, with the service currently complimentary for Business class customers and Cathay Diamond members, and soon Cathay Gold members starting 15 November and Cathay members travelling in Premium Economy by the end of this year.

Cathay Pacific now flies to 6 destinations in Australia, namely Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Together with its flights to Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand, the airline is operating a total of close to 100 return flights per week to Oceania during the winter season.

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This latest flight simulator was manufactured by CAE, a global leader in training and critical operations solutions for aviation. The new simulator further supports Cathay’s efforts to meet the growing demand for world-class pilot training as it embarks on a comprehensive fleet renewal and expansion plan.

The Cathay Group is investing over HK$100 billion in its fleet, cabin and lounge products, and digital innovation to strengthen the Hong Kong international aviation hub and elevate the customer experience. This includes orders for more than 100 state-of-the-art narrowbody, regional widebody, long-haul widebody and large freighter aircraft joining the Group’s modern fleet in the coming years, with more than 30 of these being A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

Cathay held a special ceremony in Cathay House to welcome the new simulator from CAE last Friday (24 October 2025). Cathay Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan and Cathay Director Flight Operations Captain Chris Kempis welcomed a delegation from CAE led by Michel Azar-Hmouda, Division President, Commercial Aviation, along with Captain Lawrence Wong, Chief, Flight Standard of the Civil Aviation Department as a special guest for the ceremony.

CAE’s Division President, Commercial Aviation Michel Azar-Hmouda said: “This A320 full-flight simulator marks a meaningful milestone in our collaboration with Cathay. Featuring CAE’s advanced Prodigy visual system, the device enhances training realism and supports Cathay’s commitment to operational excellence. As Cathay continues to invest in quality and commonality across its training infrastructure, CAE is proud to be a trusted partner on their journey.”

The Cathay Group’s entire fleet comprises more than 230 passenger and freighter aircraft. The Group’s premium full-service airline Cathay Pacific currently operates 16 A321neo aircraft, while its low-cost carrier HK Express operates an all-Airbus fleet of more than 40 A320, A321, A320neo and A321neo aircraft.

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The agreement was announced in Hong Kong on the sidelines of the IATA World Sustainability Symposium at a ceremony hosted by Cathay Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan and Airbus President Asia-Pacific Anand Stanley. Under the terms of the partnership, the two companies will collaborate to identify, evaluate and invest in projects that support the scaling of SAF production towards 2030 and beyond. Projects will be assessed based on their commercial viability, technology maturity, and potential for long-term offtake.

Scaling SAF requires deep collaboration across the value chain, including from policymakers and investors to SAF producers and customers. This co-investment agreement reflects the spirit of partnership with Airbus and Cathay teaming up to accelerate production capability for more meaningful impact.

“SAF remains the most important lever for Cathay and the wider aviation industry to drive toward our decarbonisation goals,” said Alex McGowan, Chief Operations & Service Delivery Officer, Cathay. “This co-investment partnership with Airbus underscores our commitment to building a stronger, more scalable SAF industry. It complements our broader strategy of investing in the technologies and production capacity needed for the future, including our recent investment in the oneworld BEV SAF Fund. Meanwhile we are expanding SAF usage today through partnerships with like-minded organisations.”

“This agreement reflects the shared commitment of Airbus and Cathay to make a real difference,” said Anand Stanley, President Asia Pacific, Airbus. “The production and distribution of affordable SAF at scale requires an unprecedented cross-sectoral approach. Our partnership with Cathay is a concrete example of how we catalyse production in the most suitable locations to serve our customers.”

The joint commitment also includes collaboration to advocate for supportive SAF policies on both the supply and demand side across Asia. With the region’s strong potential in feedstock supply, production capacity, and its vibrant aviation market, Airbus and Cathay aim to leverage their global experience to help shape policies that make SAF more accessible and affordable in this part of the world.

Airbus and Cathay have a long-standing partnership dating back to 1989, when the airline signed its first order for Airbus aircraft. Today, the Cathay Group operates 86 Airbus aircraft with over 70  more on order for future delivery.