Editing Cathay Pacific (section)

===1946–1960: The early years===
[[File:Cathay Pacific VR-HDB 1.jpg|thumb|A Douglas DC-3 named ''Betsy'', Cathay Pacific's first aircraft, in the [[Hong Kong Science Museum]].]]
[[File:CPANikki.jpg|thumb|upright|right|''Niki'', a DC-3 painted to imitate the appearance of the carrier's second aircraft, outside Cathay City|alt=Cathay Pacific DC-3 ''Niki'']]
Cathay Pacific Airways was founded on 24 September 1946 in Hong Kong. [[Sydney de Kantzow|Sydney "Syd" de Kantzow]], [[Roy Farrell]],<ref name=hist/><ref name=CR/><ref name=SCMP1/> Neil Buchanan, Donald Brittan Evans and Robert "Bob" Stanley Russell were the initial shareholders.<ref name=CR/> Buchanan and Russell had already worked for de Kantzow and Farrell at Roy Farrell Import-Export Company, the predecessor of Cathay Pacific,<ref name=book>{{cite book|title=Beyond Lion Rock: The Story of Cathay Pacific Airways|date=1988|first=Gavin|last=Young|author-link=Gavin Young|location=London|publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]]|isbn=0091737249|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaRP3n4b68gC|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=17 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217003937/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZaRP3n4b68gC|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=SCMP1>{{cite news|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/645928/flight-no-return|title=Flight of no return: How a Cathay Pacific plane became the first hijacked commercial airliner|date=20 July 2008|orig-year=updated 7 October 2016|department="Post Magazine" section|work=South China Morning Post|location=Hong Kong|access-date=16 April 2018|first=Mark|last=Footer|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417022831/http://www.scmp.com/article/645928/flight-no-return|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17971269|title=Cargo by air to far east|date=25 February 1946|access-date=22 April 2018|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|page=5|via=National Library of Australia|orig-year=digitized in 2010s|archive-date=23 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180423034203/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/17971269|url-status=live}}</ref> that was initially headquartered in Shanghai.<ref name=hist>{{cite web|url=https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/about-us/about-our-airline/history.html|title=History – Those Were the Days|publisher=Cathay Pacific|access-date=23 December 2016|archive-date=1 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301080006/https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/about-us/about-our-airline/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CR/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RcLsDQAAQBAJ|title=Hong Kong Aviation: 125-year history|script-title=zh:香港航空125年|edition=revised|date=2016|orig-year=First edition published in 2015|page=202|last={{lang|zh-hant|吳}} [Ng]|first={{lang|zh-hant|邦謀}} [James]|isbn=9789888420544|publisher=Chung Hwa Book Company (Hong Kong)|language=zh|access-date=13 December 2017|archive-date=8 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230308151759/https://books.google.com/books?id=RcLsDQAAQBAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Both de Kantzow and Farrell were Ex-Air Force pilots who had flown [[The Hump]], a route over the [[Himalaya]]n mountains.<ref name=hump>{{cite journal|title=Cathay Pacific Airways Limited|journal=International Directory of Company Histories|volume=185|pages=136–142|first1=Etan|last1=Vlessing|first2=Frederick C.|last2=Ingram|publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Gale]]|date=2017|isbn=978-1-55862-959-2|editor-first=Jay P.|editor-last=Pederson|location=Farmington Hills, Michigan}}</ref> Farrell purchased the airline's first aircraft, a [[Douglas DC-3]], nicknamed ''Betsy'', at Bush Field, New York City in 1945.<ref name=book/>{{rp|29}} The company began freight services on 28 January 1950 from Sydney to Shanghai, after Farrell and Russell flew the plane to Australia and obtained a licence to carry freight (but not passengers) earlier that month.<ref name=book/>{{rp|36–37}} Its first commercial flight was a shipment of Australian goods.<ref name=book/>{{rp|37}} The profitable business soon attracted attention from [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] government officials.<ref name=book/>{{rp|44}} After several instances where the company's planes were detained by authorities in Shanghai,<ref name=book/>{{rp|44}} on 11 May 1946, the company relocated, flying its two planes to Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://qz.com/993822/once-an-asian-aviation-pioneer-cathay-pacific-is-now-struggling-to-leave-behind-its-past/|title=Once an Asian aviation pioneer, Cathay Pacific is now struggling to leave behind its past|last1=Huang|first1=Echo|website=Quartz|date=4 July 2017|language=en|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727184459/https://qz.com/993822/once-an-asian-aviation-pioneer-cathay-pacific-is-now-struggling-to-leave-behind-its-past/|url-status=live}}</ref> Farrell and de Kantzow re-registered their business in Hong Kong on 24 September 1946 as Cathay Pacific Airways Limited,<ref name=hist/><ref name=CR>{{cite book|title=Document Ref. No. 000B6829788 of Cathay Pacific Holdings (ex-Cathay Pacific Airways)|date=1946–1953|orig-year=digitized circa 2000s|department = Cyber Search Centre|publisher=Companies Registry|location=Hong Kong|type=statutory filing}}</ref> while another sister company, The Roy Farrell Export Import Company (Hong Kong) Limited, was incorporated on 28 August 1946<ref name=CR/> and chartered some flights from Cathay.<ref name=book/>{{rp|58}} (According to ''International Directory of Company Histories'', two companies were formed for tax purposes.<ref name=hump/>)

They named the airline ''[[Cathay]]'', the ancient name given to [[names of China|China]], and ''Pacific'' because Farrell speculated that they would one day fly across the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]]<ref name=book/>{{rp|56}} (which happened in the 1970s).<ref name=name>{{cite web|url=http://www.airhighways.com/cathay_pacific.htm|title=Fly away with Cathay Pacific|publisher=Air Highways|first=Muguette|last=Goufrani|access-date=8 March 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060129082457/http://www.airhighways.com/cathay_pacific.htm|url-status=live|archive-date=29 January 2006}}</ref> Moreover, to avoid the name "Air Cathay" as it had already been used in a comic.<ref name=book/>{{rp|55}} The Chinese name for the company ("{{lang|zh-Hant|國泰}}") was not settled on until the 1950s.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} It comes from a [[wiktionary:國泰民安|Chinese idiom]] meaning "Peace and Prosperity"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@justin.sharma93/cathay-pacific-1-888-571-9717-28c1429a6d58|script-title=zh:Definition of "国泰民安"|website=chinese.yabla.com|access-date=13 January 2018|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727184122/https://chinese.yabla.com/chinese-english-pinyin-dictionary.php?define=%E5%9B%BD%E6%B3%B0%E6%B0%91%E5%AE%89|url-status=live}}</ref> and was at the time often used by other businesses called "Cathay" in English.

According to legend, the airline's unique name was conceived by Farrell and some foreign correspondents at the bar of the [[Manila Hotel]],<ref name=hist/><ref name=book/>{{rp|55}} while another narrative was the name was taken in the [[Cathay Hotel]] in [[Shanghai Bund]], during drinking and brainstorming, and choosing Cathay was to avoid the word China in the airline name.<ref name=book/>{{rp|53}} On Cathay Pacific's maiden voyage, de Kantzow and Peter Hoskins flew from Sydney to Hong Kong via [[Manila]].<ref name=book/>{{rp|53}} The airline initially flew routes between Hong Kong, Sydney, Manila, Singapore, Shanghai, Saigon, Bangkok,<ref name=book/>{{rp|58}} with additional chartered destinations.<ref name=book/>{{rp|59}} The airline grew quickly. By 1947, it had added another five DC-3s and two [[Canadian Vickers|Vickers]] [[Consolidated PBY Catalina|Catalina]] seaplanes to its fleet.<ref name=book/>{{rp|234}}<ref name=hump/>

In 1948, a new [[legal person]] of Cathay Pacific Airways was incorporated,<ref name=CR/><ref name=hump/> with John Swire & Sons (now known as [[Swire Group]]),<ref name=CR/><ref name="1988book">{{cite journal|journal=International Directory of Company Histories|title=Swire Pacific Ltd.|editor-first=Thomas|editor-last=Derdak|publisher=St. James Press|volume=1|location=Chicago, London|year=1988|isbn=0-912289-10-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0001unse/page/521 521–522]|url=https://archive.org/details/internationaldir0001unse/page/521}}</ref> [[China Navigation Company]], [[Australian National Airways]] being the new shareholders of the new entity,<ref name=CR/> acquiring the assets from the old legal person;<ref name=CR/> the old legal person, was renamed into Cathay Pacific Holdings, as well as retaining 10% shares of the new Cathay Pacific Airways.<ref name=CR/> de Kantzow, Farrell and Russell were the shareholders of Cathay Pacific Holdings at that time.<ref name=CR/> It was reported that the colonial British government of Hong Kong required the airline was majority-owned by the British. Despite de Kantzow being a British subject through his Australian roots, Farrell was an American, thus forcing them to sell their majority stake.<ref name=book/>{{rp|79}}<ref name=hump/> Under Swire's management, de Kantzow remained in the airline until 1951,<ref name=book/>{{rp|123}}<ref name=hump/> while Farrell had sold his minority stake in Cathay Pacific soon after Swire's takeover in 1948, due to his wife's health problems.<ref name=book/>{{rp|115}}<ref name=hump/> He returned to Texas and became a successful businessman.<ref name=book/>{{rp|115}}

Swire later acquired 52% of Cathay Pacific Airways.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}} {{as of|2017|12|31}}, the airline is still owned by Swire Group to the extent of 45% through its subsidiary Swire Pacific Limited, as the largest shareholder.<ref name=Swire>{{cite web|title=Fact Sheet|url=https://news.cathaypacific.com/fact-sheet|publisher=Cathay Pacific|access-date=14 April 2018|archive-date=5 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105201553/https://news.cathaypacific.com/fact-sheet|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=CathayPacific2017AR/> However, Swire Group also formed a [[shareholders' agreement]] with the second largest shareholder, [[Air China]] (which {{clarify span|date=February 2023|was}} controlled by state-owned [[China National Aviation Holding]]), which Cathay Pacific and Air China had a cross ownership.<ref name=CathayPacific2017AR>{{cite web|url=http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/SEHK/2018/0403/LTN201804031384.pdf|title=2017 Annual Report|date=3 April 2018|access-date=14 April 2018|publisher=Cathay Pacific Airways|via=Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited website|archive-date=14 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180414234244/http://www.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/SEHK/2018/0403/LTN201804031384.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|41, 104}}

In the late 1940s, the Hong Kong Government divided the local aviation market between Cathay Pacific and its only local competitor, the [[Jardine Matheson]]-owned [[Hong Kong Airways]]:<ref name=book/>{{rp|117–118}} Cathay Pacific was allocated routes to the south (including South-East Asia and Australia), while Hong Kong Airways was allocated routes to the north (including mainland China, Korea, and Japan). The situation changed with the establishment of the People's Republic of China and the [[Korean War]], which reduced the viability of the northern routes. In 1959, Cathay Pacific acquired Hong Kong Airways,<ref name=hump/> and became the dominant airline in Hong Kong.

Under Swire, another important sister company, [[HAECO]], was established in 1950.<ref name=book/>{{rp|130}} Nowadays,{{when|date=January 2024}} it's one of the major aeroplane repair service companies of Hong Kong with divisions in other cities of China.{{which|date=February 2023}}