Cathay tempts with limited edition 75th anniverary releases

Financially embattled Cathay Pacific has found a revenue-generating way to celebrate its 75^th anniversary that will have airline enthusiasts pondering whether to go for the pen or the planes. The Hong Kong airline is offering 1,000 special collector’s box sets featuring seven aircraft models from Betsy, the carrier’s first Douglas DC-3, to the modern Airbus A321neo. The other choice is 435 pen and cardholder sets fashioned from aluminum reclaimed from the airline’s final Boeing 747-400 passenger jet, B-HUJ. READ: United inks world's biggest sustainable aviation fuel deal. Or maybe it could be the limited-edition luggage tags made from the body of the Boeing 777-200 B-HND, also known as the “Haneda Jet”. Also available are crew uniforms “upcycled” into accessories and homewares such as cushion covers and teddy bears and a cocktail collection available exclusively in Hong Kong and created in collaboration with LAIBA.

Those in Hong Kong wanting to discover the airline’s renowned first-class dining experience can visit Salisterra at The Upper House between September 20 and October 17 and klick off with Cathay’s signature Imperial caviar washed down with a glass of Krug Grande Cuvee. “Cathay Pacific has seen exhilarating successes over the past incredible 75 years,” said chief executive Augustus Tang. “We’ve connected people to many new destinations, welcomed the arrival of state-of-the-art aircraft and introduced exciting customer experience enhancements, to name a few. “We have also experienced unprecedented challenges, such as the global pandemic, which we are all still overcoming. What these over seven decades have shown is that we are a resilient brand.” The Cathay Group revealed last month that it had reduced its first-half 2021 loss to $HK7.56 billion ($US972 million) but said it expected less than a third of its pre-pandemic passenger capacity by the fourth quarter of this year. Cathay launched in 1946 with a freight service from Australia to China operated by former military pilots Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantowz. Farrell’s ambition to one day cross the Pacific was embodied in the airline’s name and it achieved that goal less than 30 years later.