Cathay Pacific celebrates oneworld 10th anniversary

First aircraft in alliance livery flown to Cebu

March 15, 2009

Cebu - The first Cathay Pacific aircraft to carry the Oneworld livery, took its first commercial flight to and from Cebu on March 11 without much funfare and has visited the central Philippine city every other day since.

The Airbus A340-300, arrived back in Hong Kong on 10 March after being painted at the Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company facility. The aircraft will be subsequently deployed on various long-haul routes. Cathay Pacific’s remaining two oneworld aircraft, an Airbus A330-300 and a Boeing 777-300ER, will fly in their new colors in the second half of the year.

A striking new livery is going onto three Cathay Pacific aircraft to mark a significant milestone the Oneworld alliance. To highlight their ongoing commitment, the alliance’s 10 full member airlines will each put a standardized livery on a proportion of the aircraft in their fleet.

The new Oneworld aircraft livery features the alliance’s name prominently on the front section of the fuselage, in letters almost two metres high, with the oneworld logo alongside. The whole fuselage is painted white. The Cathay Pacific name is placed in fixed position in the livery, below the oneworld name, while the tailfin remains in Cathay Pacific colours as for the rest of the fleet.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: “Being a member of the alliance has helped Cathay Pacific extend our reach into new markets, offer an enhanced service to our frequent travellers and generate benefits from being in partnership with some of the world’s finest airlines. Looking ahead, our relationship with oneworld will continue to be an integral part of our strategy for future growth and development over the next 10 years and beyond.”

The airline was one of the five original founder members of Oneworld when the alliance came into being on 1 February 1999. oneworld now brings together some of the best and biggest names in the airline business with 10 full members and around 20 affiliates serving almost 700 airports in nearly 150 countries.