Airline News
Cathay unveils new livery, Virgin sacks 50 HK-based senior crew
November 6th 2015
Cathay Pacific Airways on Sunday unveiled its new livery, sported by B-KPM, one of its 70 B777s. Read More » The new paint job, which will be progressively introduced onto all its aircraft in the next five years, comprises three key design elements: the incorporation of the updated and streamlined brushwing, which was launched in October 2014; a simplification of the colour palette to Cathay green, grey and white; and a more prominent display of the Cathay name and brushwing. These updates are most evident on three areas of the aircraft: the nose, the fuselage and the tail.
Cathay Pacific chief executive, Ivan Chu, said: “creating a new livery is much more than a cosmetic exercise. This new look is the latest – and most significant – development in our ongoing efforts to improve the overall customer experience at Cathay Pacific. It is a highly visible representation of the huge investments we are making in new aircraft and products to build Hong Kong’s position as an international aviation hub.”
The carrier promises a number of significant developments, including the introduction of 46 on-order A350s from early 2016, improvements to its products and services and the continued expansion of its network, including the additions of Madrid and Tel Aviv next year.
Cathay Pacific’s regional offshoot, Dragonair, this week announced the addition of two weekly A330 frequencies from November 10 between its Hong Kong hub and Shanghai’s Hongqiao, bringing the number of flights per week to the ‘Pudong-alternative airport’ to nine.
In other Hong Kong aviation news, Virgin Atlantic Airways made the headlines after documents leaked to the South China Morning Post showed the U.K.carrier has sent out termination notices to 50 senior cabin crew and cabin service supervisors in Hong Kong. “After very careful consideration we have decided to simplify our rank structure by having one rank of cabin crew that will work across all cabins. As a result, from March 31, 2016, we will no longer have a senior cabin crew role,” the carrier told affected staff, but it did not offer them alternative work arrangements.
In August, Stephen King, head of Virgin’s Asia-Pacific operations, told Orient Aviation the Hong Kong route was profitable. King and his team were unavailable for comment on this matter. Hong Kong Cabin Crew Federation secretary-general, Carol Ng, called the news “horrible”.
