Cathay Pacific named 'World's Best
Airline' for fourth time in annual Skytrax Awards
Theodore Koumelis - 18 July 2014, 05:06
![](images/ABLE/19%20(3).png)
Photo caption: Cathay
Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu received the award at a
ceremony staged by Skytrax at the Farnborough International
Air Show.
Cathay Pacific Airways has
once again been named “World’s
Best Airline”
in the annual Skytrax
World Airline Awards.
This is the fourth time Cathay Pacific has received
the World’s Best Airline honour - the only airline
to achieve such a feat. The carrier also took the
title in 2003, 2005 and 2009.
The latest Skytrax awards are based on a survey of 18.85
million airline passengers from around the world who
voted for their favourite travel experiences between
August 2013 and May 2014. Skytrax is acknowledged as
running one of the most comprehensive customer
satisfaction surveys in the airline industry. Airline
passengers from more than 160 countries participated in
the latest survey, which covered 245 airlines worldwide.
The survey measures standards across 41 key performance
indicators of airline products and services.
Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Ivan Chu collected
the award on behalf of the airline at a ceremony staged
by Skytrax at the Farnborough International Air
Show in the UK. Commenting on the award, Mr Chu
said that he was “extremely proud, for both Cathay
Pacific and Hong Kong” to receive this honour.
“As the home airline of Hong Kong, we take great
pride in putting the city on the international stage by
winning this prestigious award once again. The World’s
Best Airline award is particularly important to us
because it was decided by the votes of close to 19
million travellers from around the world. Thank you to
everyone who voted for us!” Mr Chu said.
“I would like to thank all my Cathay Pacific
colleagues who have worked tirelessly to ensure we offer
world-beating products and services to our customers. We
have been the home airline of Hong Kong for close to 70
years and we are deeply committed to building our city
into one of the world’s great aviation hubs. We do this
through our huge investment in new aircraft, our
world-beating seats, lounges and other products, our
renowned Service Straight from the Heart and an
ever-expanding network of destinations.”
Cathay Pacific has been making significant investments
to improve its customer offering and cement its position
as one of the world’s most highly regarded premium
international carriers. Investments so far include:
• One of the world’s most modern wide-body fleets, with
some 90 new aircraft currently on order at an aggregate
list price of about HK$220 billion.
• The development of an extensive worldwide network
offering connections to almost 190 destinations in 46
countries and territories.
• Refreshed cabins across the airline’s entire fleet
over the last four years, representing an investment of
some HK$4.9 billion, along with a HK$880 million
investment in upgraded lounges across its international
network.
• Building a winning team with a workforce of some
21,000 staff worldwide. The airline will recruit 2,200
more people in 2014.
Mr Chu emphasised that Cathay Pacific will continue
investing for the future and working to ensure that
passengers can enjoy a more comfortable and convenient
travel experience. The airline will continue to improve
its lounges within its international network, including
the reopening of The Pier First Class Lounge in 2015 and
Business Class Lounge in 2016 with a brand-new design.
The next generation of seats and inflight entertainment
products will be introduced with the arrival of the A350
aircraft in early 2016. Network development will also
remain a key focus for the airline, with flights to
Manchester launching in December this year and a new
service to Zurich beginning in March 2015.
“The airline industry is becoming more competitive
by the day and the only way to prosper is to continue to
offer the best to your customers at every level,”
Mr Chu said. “The Skytrax World’s Best Airline award
demonstrates that we have been doing the right things,
but we will not rest on our laurels. We will continue
working to provide a superior travel experience that
will make the people of Hong Kong proud.”
In the same awards, oneworld was named the World’s Best
Airline Alliance for the second year running, confirming
its position as the most highly prized global airline
alliance. Cathay Pacific is a founder member of oneworld.
![](images/ABLE/images-2.jpg)
Cathay
Pacific Airlines
by Muguette M.
Goufrani, Associate Editor
We have flown on Cathay
Pacific Airlines
from Vancouver, BC , Canada to New York
consistently for the past seven years, and are
extremely pleased with the service we've
received. If Africa Travel Magazine were handing
out awards for courtesy and friendliness at this
time, the staff at the JFK International Airport
in New York would rank extremely high.
(see
Airport Manager letter)
We would gladly recommend this airline to anyone
flying between these two cities and anywhere
else on its agenda. Here is a brief profile on
the airline from its excellent in-flight
magazine:
Cathay
Pacific Airways was founded in Hong Kong in
1946 by two adventurers American Roy Farrell and
Australian Sydney de Kantzow. The Cathay Pacific
story is one of the most romantic in aviation
history. It began with the entrepreneurial
vision of two former transport pilots - American
Roy Farrell and Sydney de Kantzow from Australia
- who had flown transport planes over the "HUMP"
from Calcutta to Kunming during World War 11.
After the war, they spotted an opportunity to
start passenger and cargo flights out of
Shanghai and, in May 1946, moved their
enterprise to the British colony of Hong Kong,
naming it Cathay Pacific Airways - Cathay, the
ancient name for China; and Pacific, because the
far-sighted Farrell speculated that one day the
embryonic airline might fly across the Pacific
ocean.
By 1948,
CPA was operating scheduled services to five
destinations around Asia. The same year,
Butterfield & Swire, Cathay Pacific
continued to grow rapidly. During the 1970, the
airline began serving its first destinations
beyond Asia with flights to the Middle East, as
well as starting its first cargo-only
flights.
With
delivery of its first Boeing 747-200 in 1980,
Cathay Pacific launched its inaugural Hong Kong
London service, and then became the world's
first airline to take delivery of the
Rolls-Royce-poweded Boeing 747-400, which
revolutionized long haul travel, bringing
destinations such as Vancouver, London and Los
Angels within nonstop range. 45 percent of the
Airline is owned by Swire Pacific, part of Hong
Kong based conglomerate Swire Group, while China
International Trust & Investment Corporation
(CITIC) holds a further 25.4 percent and John
Swire & Sons provides a wide range of
management services to the airline.
In 1996,
the airline commemorated its 50th anniversary
and in 1999, the airline took delivery of three
Boeing 777-300s, one of the most advanced
passenger aircraft in the market today. Cathay
Pacific's continued success is closely tied to
that of Hong Kong, and with this in mind the
airline has invested a total of HK$8 BILLION
(us$1 billion in its new headquarters at Cathay
Pacific City and in the infrastructure of the
Hong Kong international Airport at Chek Lap Kok
which opened on 6 July 1998: Cathay Pacific's
new home in the heart of Asia. More information
is also available on the website:
www.cathaypacific.com
We will
describe our most recent flight in more detail
later, but first here is some supporting
information we gathered via press release that
was sent to our office. It speaks of a very key
topic - management:
Cathay
Pacific Airways has been ranked the best managed
major airline in Asia and the second best
managed major airline in the world by leading
airline industry magazine Aviation Week &
Space Technology. Cathay Pacific, which offers
twice daily Boeing 747-400 service from
Vancouver to Hong Kong, daily non-stops to New
York and daily direct A340-300 service from
Toronto to Honk Kong, offers service to 47
destinations from its "Super Hub" in Honk
Kong.
Cathay
Pacific was also lauded for the "exceptionally
strong performance" of its management. The
rankings are based on a combination of asset
utilization, productivity and financial health.
Aviation Week said the highly-ranked companies
should serve as a guide for aerospace companies
and airlines worldwide.
|