As Cathay Pacific marks 40 years in the Americas, YVR is remembering the airlines’ very first flight that launched it all. It was back on May 1,1983 when Cathay Pacific first took off from Hong Kong and touched down at Vancouver International Airport. Cathay Pacific started its service with two non-stop flights a week with a Boeing 747-200. Today, Cathay Pacific operates 8x weekly non-stop flights between Hong Kong and Vancouver on a Boeing 777-300.
Since that first Boeing 747-200 landed 40 years ago, over 13 million passengers have flown on Cathay Pacific flights to and from YVR.
Cathay Pacific opened its first ticket office on March 16, 1983 in the heart of Vancouver’s “airline row,” employing 26, today, the airline employs close to 300 employees throughout Canada, Mexico and the U.S.
We would like to congratulate Cathay Pacific on reaching 40 years of service, a significant milestone. Vancouver has strong links to Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region and we’re proud to serve our community with regular flights to this important part of the world.