The Boeing 747 will end almost four decades of service in Cathay Pacific’s passenger fleet later this week after playing a pivotal role in the Hong Kong carrier’s development and expanding the horizons of millions of travellers.
The aircraft dubbed the “Queen of the Skies” will perform a final return flight between its home base in Hong Kong to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on September 30 and October 1. From there, the Boeing 747-400 will head to the US or UK to be scrapped and any valuable parts recycled.
The booked-out flight marks the end of career which began in July, 1979, when a Boeing 747-200, VR-HKG, arrived at Hong Kong’s legendary Kai Tak airport after an 11-hour flight. It entered revenue service four days later operating Hong-Kong-Melbourne-Sydney-Hong Kong.
The arrival a year later of a second plane to operate a service to London Gatwick via Bahrain formed the basis of a new long-haul network that saw the B747 fleet grow to five aircraft by the end of 1981.
As in other markets, the aircraft’s ability to carry more than 400 passengers for greater distances with an efficiency that allowed lower fares had a profound impact.
“The 747 fundamentally changed the way people were able to travel,” says Cathay Pacific general manager operations and former 747 pilot Mark Hoey. “Being able to carry more people for far greater distances than before meant the 747 effectively shrunk the planet.
“The aircraft had a vital effect on the development of Hong Kong as an international aviation hub – and indeed, Hong Kong’s economic and tourism prospects. As a result, it helped make Hong Kong become a world city.”
Cathay’s network was already expanding in Europe as the airline received its first 747 powered by improved Rolls Royce RB211-524D engines, an addition that supported a longer range and allowed the airline to become the first Asian carrier to operate a nonstop service to Canada’s Vancouver.
By the time it received its first B747-300 in 1985, the network had grown 70 percent and the long-haul fleet had increased to 10 jumbos.
The airline and its destinations continued to grow as the airline took another step forward with the arrival of the first 747-400, VR-HOP, in 1989. The longer-range plane, featuring a new “glass cockpit’’, allowed further growth and the addition in 1990 of what was then was the world’s longest non-stop route, Hong Kong-Los Angeles, as well as a new service to London Heathrow.
The Queen still reigned supreme when the Boeing 777 and Airbus A340 arrived in the mid-1990s and remained the biggest aircraft type on long-haul routes with 32 planes. Cathay now boasted a staff of 15,000 and served 42 destinations, while visitor numbers to Hong Kong had grown from 2.2 million in 1979 to top 10 million by 1995.
The giant plane was popular with staff and helped to build camaraderie between the bigger crews operating longer flights, according to former flight attendant and Cathay inflight service manager Monica Tong. Passengers also appreciated the spacious cabins and advanced entertainment options, which began with movie screens and advanced to video on demand systems, Tong said.
Despite encroachment by the upstart B777, the 747 still retained the throne in 1998 when CX251 to London Heathrow was the last departure from Kowloon-based Kai Tak.
The honour of the first flight into the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok also went to a 747: flight CX889 from New York was the first revenue flight to fly non-stop over the North Pole on a new direct route, known as Polar 1, through previously prohibited Russian airspace.
However, more efficient twin-engine aircraft would eventually bring down the monarch and in 2012, Cathay announced it would accelerate its 747 retirement plans in favour of the 777-300ER.
By then, the Queen had presided over a massive expansion of the Cathay empire that had seen the airline establish itself as top-tier international player. Her full 37 years of service saw the carrier's network grow from 72,000km to 620,000km, employee numbers increase from 5000 to 23,000 and passenger numbers rise from 2.5 million to more than 34 million.
Tony Britton, who worked as an engineer on 747s for three decades said it would be an emotional moment when the last passenger jumbo departed the fleet.
“I dare say many Cathay Pacific staff will feel sad — many have a very close attachment, so it does feel like an end of an era,’’ he said.
