Celebrating 50 years of our Hong Kong-Sydney route

Flowing wines, moreish bites, sun-splashed views over Sydney Harbour, and retro homages to the 1970s: just a few of the elements that made up our celebrations marking 50 years of Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong-Sydney route.  

On 21 October, 1974, a Boeing 707 carrying more than 100 passengers departed for Sydney from Hong Kong’s Kai Tak Airport. After touching down in Australia on 22 October, the plane made the 10-hour journey back to Hong Kong. These two flights inaugurated Cathay Pacific’s Hong Kong-Sydney route – the world’s first direct commercial flight between the two cities – and transformed air travel in the Asia-Pacific region. 

This November, Cathay Pacific leaders, Diamond members and other distinguished guests gathered in the Australian city to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the route. The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), a landmark on the edge of the stunning Sydney Harbour, played host to a programme of commemorative events.

Chief among these was a special exhibition at the museum highlighting our milestones over the past 50 years. In addition to a detailed timeline of our many “firsts”, it featured a model of the Boeing 707 as well as the original uniform worn by Captain Hal Dyball – then First Officer Dyball – on the inaugural flight from Sydney to Hong Kong.

Captain Dyball himself was present as our Guest of Honour, and kicked off the festivities with a classic captain’s announcement. He was joined by members of the cabin crew from the first flight as well as representatives from Cathay Pacific’s Head Office including Mandy Ng (Director Service Delivery), Bernard Mills (Head of Dining and Hospitality), Prudence Lau (Head of Customer Relationship Marketing), Da-Hee Kim (Marketing Manager), and James Evans (General Manager Cargo Commercial).​

After unveiling our special display at the MCA, we welcomed guests to a two-course business lunch. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Tom Kennedy (Head of Customer Travel and Lifestyle), during which speakers Ng, Mills, and Frosti Lau (Regional General Manager Southwest Pacific) discussed their memories of working at Cathay Pacific as well as their plans for the future of the airline. There was much excitement surrounding our launch strategy for the Aria Suite, the gem of our all-new Business cabins on board our Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

It was also a very special moment when we debuted our commemorative video , in which Captain Dyball, former Cathay Pacific Managing Director Sir Rod Eddington, Senior Sydney Airport Operations Manager Glenn Potter and more reflected on Cathay Pacific’s role in aviation history and the longstanding connection between Sydney and Hong Kong.

Our celebrations continued into the evening with a cocktail party, with guests including a group of our valued Diamond members and Million Milers, as well as singer Francis Yip and musician Noel Quinlan, who performed Cathay Pacific’s famous jingle back in the 1970s.

As guests savored canapes and sipped on Cathay Delight mocktails, Betsy beer and Chinese wines from our Discovery series, they were treated to a comedy performance by MC Ben Quinlan, who drew laughs with his observations on the cultural nuances of global travel. There were also remarks by Wang Chunsheng, the Acting Consul-General of the People's Republic of China (NSW), and Ricky Chong, Director Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Sydney: not to mention a prize draw, with one lucky Diamond member winning tickets for a flight in 2025 – seated in the Aria Suite, of course.

As the party wound down, we presented guests with parting gift bags containing a retro-style travel pouch, badges, luggage tags, sustainable DIY model planes, and portable umbrellas – small tokens of an extraordinary milestone​.

Next time you travel with us between Sydney and Hong Kong, know that you’re continuing a historic intercontinental relationship, and that we were the ones to first bridge the divide.

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