12Dawn has not long broken - Cathay Pacific

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The 2013/14 Yum Sing
programme has been launched,
providing passengers arriving or
transiting in Hong Kong with some
enticing offers around the city.
Yum Sing is on ongoing
promotion run by the Marketing
Department that helps to
differentiate the airline’s inbound
tactical products and strengthen
CX’s competitiveness as a Hong
Kong-based international network
carrier.
Yum Sing features a variety of
coupons selected from around
20 high-quality outlets, including
dining, shopping, airport offers and
major attractions.
Among the outlets offering
discounts this year are Jumbo
Kingdom, Tai O Lookout, Citygate
Outlets and the sky100 viewing
platform at Hong Kong’s tallest
building.
“We have refreshed Yum
Sing this year to make it
more customer-oriented and
comprehensive, with a few more
exciting merchants added to
the list,” says Jennifer Tsang,
Marketing Manager.
Visitors can download the
coupons from cathaypacific.
com/yumsing or dragonair.com /
yumsing and present with a valid
boarding pass within seven days
of arrival in Hong Kong.
The promotion runs until 15
April 2014.
The typhoon season is
approaching fast and CX teams
are hard at work fine-tuning plans
and procedures in advance of any
severe tropical storms.
A cross-departmental typhoon
preparedness meeting was held
on 9 May, with all key teams
gathering to ensure that plans are
well coordinated and to detail any
changes put in place since the
big weather event of 2012.
Typhoon Vicente ripped through
Hong Kong in late July last year,
leaving close to 7,000 CX and
KA passengers motionless in
Hong Kong and thousands more
unable to get to HKIA as flights
were diverted.
CX World spoke to some of the
key players to find out what the
main considerations will be for
any major disruption this summer
and what is being done to lessen
the impact on customers.
Line Operations
Safety will always be the factor
that drives the decision to
suspend operations in a typhoon,
says Neil Phillips, Manager Line
Operations.
“We will complete an
operational risk assessment of
flight and ground operations – as
required under our IATA-audited
Safety Management System
– and based on the outcome
and our experience managing
previous events will determine
what is an acceptable operating
parameter and then decide if
we will continue flying or at what
point we will discontinue flights.”
Commercial considerations are
never a factor, “and nor are we
influenced by what other airlines
are doing,” Neil explains.
“If the weather is severe
we will stop flying for safety
considerations and put everything
in place to be ready for when the
system passes.”
Neil says that it doesn’t
necessarily follow that the higher
the typhoon warning, the more
likely it is that operations will be
affected.
“It may only be a T3 signal but if
there are strong crosswinds from
a south-southeasterly direction
then operations will
be affected,” he
says, stressing that
typhoon situations
will always be
unpredictable.
IOC
While Line Ops makes the
decision on whether or not to
fly, it’s down to the IOC to put
all the pieces of the jigsaw
into place.
“The most challenging
part is recovery because
we’ll have a lot of aircraft
and crew out of position
and it is impossible to
simply combine two days’
schedules into one,” says
Alex Chan, Manager IOC.
After operations out of
Hong Kong are cancelled and
sixth-freedom flights suspended,
IOC will need to get an accurate
assessment of the number of
people awaiting flights and match
these with available resources to
know which flights need to be
operated.
“We also need to look at the
capability at HKIA, where there
might be issues with parking
bay availability or manpower
shortages among service
providers,” says Alex.
Improved coordination with
Station Control at HKIA is helping
IOC put together a more effective
recovery plan.
“We will have Hub Control staff
sitting in IOC so that we have
a good understanding of the
situation, and we’ll position our
own staff in the Airport Authority’s
Integrated Airport Centre (IAC) to
ensure better coordination there,”
he says.
Airports/HKIA
Managing customers at airports
– in Hong Kong or overseas – is
one of the biggest challenges in
a typhoon.
“In disruptions we need to be
mindful of the perception gap
between what we do and what
customers see,” says General
Manager Airport Adrian Harley.
“We need to work hard to ensure
that gap is as small as possible
– so communication is the key,
plus making staff visible and
accessible.”
Adrian says that stopping 6thfreedom
passengers coming
to Hong Kong is a difficult but
sometimes necessary step in
order to enable a swifter recovery.
“From the AHQ/CCC side we
have put in place more effective
communication with outports
that will help us to manage such
situations more effectively.”
At the Hong Kong hub, it is
also recognised that effective
communication is key in the
success of the recovery plan
execution.
“A key development has
been to have various ground
operations teams – HAS and
CPCS, for example – to send
representatives into Station
Control at HKIA to help with
everything from aircraft
parking logistics to working
on the flight recovery
schedule,” says Joseph
Chan, Manager Service
Delivery – HKIA.
The airport
teams rely on CCD,
ECX and Digital
Marketing to get
messages out to
the travelling public
to avoid a situation where people
are turning up at the airport for
flights that won’t be departing.
Getting more customers to
use the Manage My Booking
system on the CX website has
also helped to keep passenger
numbers down at airports, while
social media tools are playing
an increasingly important role in
getting messages across to the
public.
Sing Jet Kerosene
ICE Brent

“fanfares” has taken the Hong Kong market
by storm since its launch in October last
year, with a hit rate of three million in six
months, and some offers selling out in less
than an hour.
Many savvy travellers are now habitually
visiting the “fanfares” website every Tuesday
at 8am to snap up the latest round of
bargains from CX and KA.
The “fanfares” website runs 11 offers to
regional and long-haul destinations each
week.
MILESTONE: Marketing manager Julianna Ng,
GM Marketing, Loyalty Programmes & CRM
Simon Large and Manager Marketing Communications
Grace Cheung celebrate the success.
Following extensive negotiations, Shanghai International Airport
Services (SIAS) was able to ink a landmark ground-handling
agreement with Air China.
Under the agreement, SIAS – the joint venture formed by HAS,
Shanghai International Airport Co Ltd and Shanghai Airport Authority
– will provide ramp operations services for all CA flights operating to
both Pudong and Hongqiao airports.
SIAS put months of preparation in readiness for serving CA from
April, purchasing new equipment worth almost RMB 70 million and
recruiting hundreds of new staff who needed to be trained to cope
with the challenging scale of the operation.
Taking on Air China’s flights means SIAS is doubling the number of
flights they handle daily at Pudong. At Hongqiao, daily flight handlng
is up by more than 60%. The team now handles around 120 and 80
departures respectively at the two airports.
“The next milestone will be June 2013, when SIAS will start to
provide passenger services at the airport terminals for CA flights,”
says SIAS CEO Vincent Li (pictured third from right with senior Air
China and SIAS management).
On average, 80% of the 1,500 to 2,000
tickets put out each week are sold, with
85% of the purchases made within the first
day, and 90% sold online. Weekly site visits
average at 130,000 and counting.
“fanfares” has covered more than 60 destinations
so far, from old favourites such as
Singapore and Bangkok, to new destinations
like Da Nang and Yangon.
The platform offers two travel options –
the first type sells fixed pattern, last-minute
departures to popular destinations, while
the other involves early bird bookings with
later departure dates. While the fixed pattern
offers the best value, both options represent
great value from CX and KA to their
home market.
“Some offers such as HK$990 to Bangkok,
Shanghai and Nagoya are sold out in
one to two hours,” said Manager Marketing
Communications Grace Cheung.
“We are working on the next round of
enhancements, so stay tuned for the next
phase of development!” Grace added.
In the meantime, the “fanfares” team,
which involves almost all of the company’s
commercial departments, will continue to
pay close attention to feedback from the
market and introduce improvements.
CX now has nine Boeing 747-8Fs
in its freighter fleet, following the
delivery of B-LJD on 9 May.
Four more of the fuel-efficient
freighters are due to be delivered
in 2013 with the next scheduled to
arrive in June.
After making its mark on the
transpacific routes, the Dash 8 is
now also being deployed on the
European lanes.
On 25 April, CX067/8, operated by the
iconic Hong Kong Trader, flew from Hong
Kong through Dubai to Frankfurt and
Amsterdam, before returning via Dubai to
the home hub.
The aircraft got a warm welcome in each
port it arrived in, with a special greeting at
Frankfurt from the airport fire tenders and
a visit from a group of cargo agents who
won a raffle to tour the aircraft.
Tips on securing the best “fanfares”
1. Register for “CXpecials” (cathaypacific.com/
cxpecials) or “KAspecials” (dragonair.com/
kaspecials) to preview the offers in emails
sent at around Monday midnight.
2. Login as an Asia Miles member to speed up
online booking with pre-filled forms. You’ll
also get 500 Asia Miles with each booking.
3. Gather companions
and agree on travel
criteria first for faster
decision-making.
Larger groups can
assign members
to buy two tickets
each for quicker
processing.
4. Check the expiry date of your passport
and other travel documents. If necessary,
consider applying for visas for popular
destinations like USA and Vietnam in
advance.
5. Research new destinations like Yangon,
Chiang Mai and Da Nang-- you may have a
bigger chance of securing tickets to these
wonderful, lesser-known leisure spots!
The air-cargo industry has been in a
slump for more than two years now
– an unprecedented length of time
– and there is still no indication that
things are about to change for the
better. There are few positive signs
of the world’s economy getting back
on a firmer footing and the simple
fact is that cargo demand won’t
see any sustained uptick until that
happens.
Cargo accounts for a significant
portion of our overall business at
Cathay Pacific, so from our point of
view this is not welcome news. We
didn’t anticipate the markets being
down for such an extended period
and we have had to be nimble and
flexible in our response, cutting
back freighter capacity in line with
demand at the same time as trying
to develop new markets. Our Cargo
teams have been doing a great job
in this regard.
We have adapted well to the
short-term challenges and at the
same time have been looking to
the future. In the longer-term we
are confident that the markets will
bounce back, that Mainland China
will continue to be major source
for both export and import cargo,
and that Hong Kong will maintain
its role as one of the world’s major
international airfreight hubs. That’s
why we have been investing in
upgrading our freighter fleet as well
as building our cargo terminal at
HKIA.
The terminal is already shaping
up to be a very impressive facility.
The first stage of operations
commenced in February and,
thanks to the hard work of the CPSL
team and close cooperation with the
various third-parties involved, the
opening went smoothly.
Now the team is getting ready
for the big test – handling imports
and transhipments for its major
customers, CX, Dragonair and Air
Hong Kong. Stage two operations
will begin on 3 June handling
inbound flights from KA, with CX
passenger and freighter flights and
AHK flights kicking in later. The
team will then move on to preparing
to move to full operations later in
the year.
The eyes of the cargo world are
going to be focused on our terminal
in the coming months, but the
combination of a superb facility and
a highly professional team means
we are going to make it a success.
John Slosar
3

4
The Hong Kong Sevens is still
fresh in our minds and now there’s
another great rugby event to look
forward to!
In just two weeks, the British and
Irish Lions embark upon their 125th
year Anniversary Tour with the first
stop at Hong Kong Stadium on 1
June.
The British & Irish Lions, a team
selected from the four fiercest of
rivals (England, Ireland, Scotland
and Wales) join forces to go on
an official Tour of Australia, and
their first stop will be in Hong Kong
to play the Barbarians - only the
second ever game between these
teams.
This is one of the biggest
sporting events to arrive in Hong
Kong and CX World has two pairs
of tickets to give away!
To go into the lucky draw to win
these great prizes, simply send
an email marked “Rugby tickets”
to CCD#SCT. Please include your
name, ERN and daytime contact
number.
Lions vs
Barbarians tickets
are available
from www.
hkticketing.
com. More
information
at www.
lionsrugby.hk
The deadline for entries is Thursday,
23 May. The winners of the lucky draw
will be announced on Daily News.
A number of people have asked
where we got the stunning nighttime
aerial shot of the cargo
terminal that featured on the
cover of the April CX World.
The picture came courtesy of
photographer David McIntyre
– an old friend of CX – who
was passing over HKIA in a
helicopter while on assignment
for another organisation.
Visit www.dgmcorporate.com
The Line Maintenance team in Engineering recently inked more
agreements to provide support for other carriers in various outports,
helping to offset the CX Group’s own maintenance costs.
Third-party deals were recently sealed with Emirates in Brisbane and
China Southern in Sydney for the handling of A380 aircraft.
Adam Nelson, Head of International Line Maintenance Operations,
says that the Group’s revenue from third-party business has now grown
by more than threefold over the past decade and equates to 25,000
aircraft movements per annum.
The number of online stations in the CX Group has now grown to
95, and Adam says “The primary goal remains the same year on
year which is to deliver safe, reliable and compliant aircraft that meet
business requirements, but in addition to this we have an opportunity
due to our own aircraft and operational efficiencies to build the third
party business which will ensure longer term sustainability”.
Alignment across the teams throughout the network was reinforced
at the Line Maintenance 2013 kick-off meeting earlier in the year.
“2013 will be a challenging year for us. We will be managing 110,000
movements between the airline group and our third party business, not
to mention new deliveries and retirement of aircraft, charter flights and
fleet changes within regions. Managing all of this is only possible due
to the highly committed Line Maintenance team we have throughout
the network” says Adam.
The Annual Line Maintenance Awards were presented at the kickoff
event to recognise those stations with an outstanding performance
and that made an exceptional contribution last year.
Anchorage was crowned Best Station for “Consistent Excellence in
Line Maintenance Operational performance with outstanding safety,
service and cost management”.
GROWING BUSINESS: Senior Engineering managers (front, centre) with the Line Maintenance managers who flew in for a kick-off event earlier this
year.
The six Saint-Émilion wines recently added
to CX’s First Class wine list give the airline’s
premium passengers yet another reason to
return.
These include the famous Château Figeac
2007 and Château Canon-la-Gaffelière
2007, both from Premier Grand Cru Classé
chateaux, as well as the up-and-coming
Château Dassault 2004, Château La Couspaude
2009, and Château Fonplégade
2008.
Also on the list is the excellent Château
Haut Brisson La Réserve 2009, which is
produced by a Chinese-owned estate.
“CX traditionally serves Bordeaux wines
from the left bank in First Class, so we
thought we’d do things differently this time
by choosing Merlot-dominant wines from
the right,” says CX wine consultant and
Winenow chief editor Lau Chi-sun. Right
bank wines use a fair amount of Cabernet Franc,
which adapts better to the region’s cooler clay
soils than Cabernet Sauvignon.
The six promotional wines are now served on
various CX flights and rotated regularly until May
2014.
“Selecting wines that ‘fly’ is different from
choosing wines on the ground. Wines may suffer
‘bottle shock’ if served at 38,000 feet, affecting
the aroma and taste,” says General Manager Inflight
Services James Ginns.
“Our catering team works closely with wine
consultants to overcome the limitations of enjoying
wine at high altitude. Their expertise has
helped CX win awards, including Best Airline for
Food and Wine in the Frequent Business Traveller
GlobeRunner Awards,” James adds.
CX currently carries around 100 wines from
France, Italy, South Africa, Australia, the United
States and New Zealand.
MASTERCLASS: International and local media tried the six new Saint-Émilion wines at a tasting event
on 2 May, with CX’s wine consultants offering expert tips.
Beginner’s guide to inflight wine
Q: How do inflight conditions affect
taste and smell?
Roy: Don’t expect the wines you
taste on the ground to be the same
in the air. The air is 40% drier in the
cabin, affecting our sense of smell.
Circulation by air conditioning and
vibrations on the plane rob the wines
of some of their flavour and aroma.
Wines with strong tannins become
more bitter, and if it’s acidic it becomes
more so.
Q: How does CX overcome this?
Roy: We don’t know which wines can
fly and which ones cannot if we don’t
test them, so that’s what we do – wines
are flown to Hong Kong straight from
their origins before they are subjected
to blind tasting by an expert panel.
Q: What are some common
characteristics of CX inflight wine?
Roy: Our inflight wines generally have
a big fruit flavour, with mild tannins
and a balanced acidity.
Q: What are some tips on enjoying
wine during a flight?
Lau: The glass should be filled to less
than a third, so that you can swirl the
wine to get the full effect of the aroma.
However, don’t keep swirling because
you’ll fatigue the wine. Every time you
pick up the glass, give it a quick twirl.

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The team at CPSL is now gearing up
for the commencement of Stage Two
operations – the biggest test yet of the
Cathay Pacific Cargo Terminal’s capabilities.
CPSL issued a notice to the industry
advising that a gradual approach is being
adopted to ensure a smooth transition
for customers – from 3 June, the
terminal will start handling all transhipments
and import cargo for KA aircraft,
followed by handling CX passenger
flights from 17 June and CX/AHK
freighters from 30 June.
CPSL CEO says that after an eightweek
operational trial for Stage Two,
all systems, facilities, personnel and
work procedures are ready for live
operations.
“Up to 3 June, more stress tests
will be conducted to help better
prepare for all situations we may
face in the future,” says Algernon.
“Our staff have put in a lot of
effort to prepare for this next
big transition and we’ve been
working closely with all key
partners – including HAS and
CX – to ensure readiness.”
Meanwhile, the team
has been pleased with
the progress of new technologies put in
place to boost the efficiency of terminal
operations.
“RFID technology has been deployed
for truck control and also for the processing
of staff laundry,” says Cargo Terminal
Programme Manager Peter Lee.
More than 2,000 trucks that regularly
visit the terminal have been issued with an
RFID tag which, together with CX Cargo’s
e-freight initiative, saves time processing
on-arrival documents and assigning truck
docks.
“Truckers can make a booking on the
web and proceed directly to their assigned
dock on arrival,” says Peter.
“For import cargo, when the truck
passes through the entrance
booth the booking information
will be retrieved and the
materials handling system
(MHS) will start to transport
the cargo to the truck dock
while the truck is still on its
way up the ramp.”
CPSL has also worked
with Vogue Laundry to implement
the first automatic
laundry system in Hong
Kong.
Each uniform has an
RFID tag and staff just need to deposit the
uniform at the kiosk. For uniform pick-up,
staff can simply present their staff card
and the system will automatically retrieve
their uniform items.
As RFID may not work as well in metallic
environment, bar code technology
has been deployed in the MHS, and
all storage locations, storage
devices and ULDs have been
bar-coded.
“This eliminates data entry
error and provides precise information
on where the ULDs
or cargo shipments are positioned,”
Peter says.
TECHNOLOGY BOOST: RFID tags
and barcode scanning are making
terminal operations more efficient.
(above and left)
Staff from CX, KA and subsidiaries have
responded to the devastating earthquake
in Sichuan by contributing to a companywide
appeal. The 6.6-magnitude shock,
which tore through Sichuan on 20 April,
killed almost 200.
The CX Group has
pledged to match staff
donations dollar for dollar.
The company donations,
along with sums collected
on CX flights from 1 to 15
May through the Change for
Good programme, will go
directly to UNICEF’s Sichuan
relief effort to help children
lacking medical supplies,
nutrition and fresh water. KA
also joined the Change for
Good initiative from 1 to 15
May to contribute to UNICEF’s
Sichuan appeal.
Manager Changsha
Joseph Man went a step further by
joining a voluntary group to visit the
earthquake zone.
Armed with generators and food,
Joseph and other members of the
Hunan Returnees Association
travelled in small trucks to remote
mountain villages in the hard-hit
Lushan County from 29 April to 3 May.
“Our group, together with volunteers from
all over China, provided material aid to
villagers whose food supply and electricity
were cut,” says Joseph.
It was a perilous journey, with
falling boulders cracking the
windscreen and aftershocks
felt almost every day. The
destruction of roads meant
that Joseph and his team
had to drive across streams
and along dirt paths to reach
the villagers. But Joseph
maintained that it was a
worthwhile experience.
“The feeling of helping
the needy on the front line
is unique. My extraordinary
experience in Sichuan has
helped me understand
humanity in a more
profound way,”
says Joseph.
GOOD DEEDS:
Joseph and
Passenger Sales
Officer Brenda
Zhang raised
sums for Sichuan
victims at a local
charity bazaar.
5

9
A staff member in DHL’s warehouse at
Manila International Airport sorts packages
ready for loading onto AHK’s LD456 service
1from Manila to Hong Kong.
13
Packages that were delivered to
DHL’s office in Manila are sent to
the recipients in Singapore by the
start of the next working day.
2DHL’s Manila team load
packages onto the main
deck ULDs that fit into
AHK’s A300Fs.
has not long broken
yet DHL’s Changi warehouse
is a hive of activity after
packages have been taken
12Dawn
off flight LD327.
3The ULDs come out o
the warehouse onto
the ramp, ready for
uploading. All of AHK
operations take place
at a time when most
people are fast aslee
Air Hong Kong has
become something of a
low-key success story since
the all-freight carrier was founded
in 1986.
After starting out using a Boeing 707
Freighter to offer regional charter services,
AHK now operates a fleet of eight Airbus
A300-600F freighters and three Boeing 747-400
Converted Freighters for DHL. It flies to and from
13 destinations, including Hong Kong.
Two A300-622F freighters wet-leased from Air
Contractors Limited were recently added to bolster the
carrier’s overnight services.
CX took up a 75% stake in AHK in June 1994. In February
2002, CX bought the remaining 25% and restructured
the operations of both carriers to leave AHK focusing on
serving the Asia region.
In October, CX used that regional strength as a key selling
point when it inked a joint venture agreement with DHL
Express (DHL) in which DHL acquired a 30% stake in AHK
to carry the integrator’s express freight express to key Asian
hubs.
In March 2003 CX sold an additional 10% interest to DHL
and the 60/40 split remains to this day.
AHK’s future as an express freight carrier was
strengthened when it became the launch customer for
Airbus’ A300-600F General Freighter in 2004, helping it
expand its operations in the Asian region.
These wide-body aircraft feature a loading system
and a side door capable of handling large items
DE
EXPRESS Follow an Air Hong Kong flight from Manila to Singapore to see how th
11
The larger ULDs for the 747 begin
to come off the aircraft after
arriving at Changi Cargo Terminal
around 7am.
6
10
The Captain does pre-flight checks prior
to departing for SIN. The tails visible
through the cockpit window show the
extent of AHK’s activity at HKIA early in
the morning.

f
’s
p.
4Palettes are loaded into the side
door of the A300F that gives the
aircraft the ability to accept all
kinds of freight. As well as small
packages, DHL has the ability to
carry much larger freight items
loaded onto open pallets.
LIVERY
e carrier adds value to CX and its principal customer, DHL
of general freight
in addition to small
packages, making them ideal
for meeting DHL’s requirements
as well as giving AHK the ability to
sell unused space to CX.
Two more A300-600Fs were added in
May and June 2006 and the three BCFs were
transferred across from CX in 2011.
While the general airfreight industry has been
stuck in a deep trough for the past two years,
express freight has been much more buoyant.
“Last year was a strong one for AHK and we
enjoyed solid growth,” says Chief Executive Officer
Anna Thompson, who heads up a team of 134 staff that
includes 90 pilots.
“The regional economies have been buoyant and we’ve
seen intra-Asia express business growing. At the same time
DHL has been growing its regional market share and we’ve
benefited from that.”
The two wet-leased A300Fs were brought in early this
year and are being used to bolster services to Penang and
Ho Chi Minh City, while the BCFs serve on trunk routes such
as Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
“The sentiment for the express market is still very
positive and we’ve set a higher target for 2013,” says
Anna, adding that the team is looking to add two more
destinations to its network in 2014 once traffic rights
have been secured.
The Captain and First Officer
conduct the pre-flight checks
prior to departure for Hong
Kong. AHK employs 90 pilots,
the majority of whom are 6based outside Hong Kong.
5
Handling agent staff uses
brute force to push the
ULDs down the deck of
the freighter.
7
The flight is almost
ready to depart
Manila. AHK
operates five times
weekly to Manila
and in total operates
136 sectors around
its network in the
course of a week.
Freight bound for
Singapore goes onto
the much larger main
deck of one of AHK’s
three BCF freighters.
The BCFs primarily fly
between Hong Kong
and Singapore, Tokyo
and Shanghai, carrying
express shipments as
well as general cargo
for CX.
8
DHL’s Hong Kong hub is the heart
and soul of AHK regional network.
All AHK flights come through the
hub and in the course of one
night freight from up to 22 flights
will be handled by staff. AHK
carried a total of 225,829 tonnes
of freight in 2012.
7

Photos by Samuel Lo & Eric Leung
Cathay Pacific’s winning streak at the annual 24 Hour Pedal Kart Grand
Prix continued this year with CX Group teams scoring six trophies, including
overall first and second.
Spirits were high at Victoria Park on 4 and 5 May as five teams of CX
pedallers raced through the night, cheered on by helpers and spectators.
Cathay Jumbos and Asia Miles Wizards, the two competitive men’s
teams, came first and second out of 31 teams by completing 990 and
971 laps, respectively. Cathay Jumbos also bagged the Men’s Fastest
Lap award with an impressive time of one minute 10 seconds, plus wins
in the Formula One, Male Engine and Aviation categories.
Together with the ladies’ team, the fun team and a team of CX volunteers
and Tung Chung students, the pedallers completed 3,994 laps –
that’s more than the distance between Hong Kong and Tokyo!
“It was great to see the return of more than a dozen male pedallers
from previous years, and to welcome enthusiastic new talent. The event
is increasingly like a reunion of Pedal Kart veterans each year!” says
General Manager Cargo Services Peter Langslow. Peter has been racing
since 2004 and is also co-captain of the Asia Miles Wizards.
As usual, the event was not without excitement, with the rather
twitchy steering of the Asia Miles kart causing the vehicle to roll
on several occasions. “Happily this did not result in serious injury,
damage or delay,” Peter says. “The pedallers righted the kart, got
back in, and continued racing – great effort!” The pit crew, made
up of engineering trainees, were proud that they fixed a wheel
and a chain that popped off “in a matter of minutes”.
“I come back year after year because of the support network
and the friendly competition, all in the name of charity,” says Inflight
Service Manager and ladies team captain Mallette De La Riva.
The team is now collecting donations to support
disadvantaged children, schools and refugees via
Hong Kong Round Table. In 2012 the CX Group
raised an impressive HK$387,000.
Jubilant CX pedallers celebrated their
resounding win against stiff competition on 5
May.
The CX-NAAC E-Cycle team, operated in
collaboration with the Tung Chung
Neighbourhood Advice-Action
Council since 2010, comprised
of 18 CX Volunteers and 40
local youths this year.
This road warrior took a tumble but
gamely carried on, eventually helping
the team win overall second
place.
1 2 3
1. Engineering Director Chris
Gibbs showed his support.
2. Instead of putting the strongest
pedallers in one team that
dominated the race, this year
they were placed in two teams to
form equally fast karts.
3. The Cathay Angels Ladies team
pedalled 850 laps.
8
Two very different pilot bodies – but both
sharing the same passion for aviation and
commitment to excellence – came together
for a unique sharing experience in April.
The Breitling Jet Team, sponsored by
the famous watch company, was passing
through Hong Kong and couldn’t resist the
opportunity to get some insights into the
commercial aviation world.
The Breitling flyers, based in Dijon,
France, and accustomed to flying L-39
jets in formation, got a look at another side
of aviation when they were met by a number
of Boeing 777 pilots and given a full
tour of Cathay City.
Among the highlights for the Breitling
team, dressed for the visit in their distinctive
black uniforms, was a session in CX’s
latest flight simulator, the Boeing 747-8F.
As part of the sharing session, a few of
the CX pilots took the journey north to
Shenzhen to have a closer look at the
L-39s and learn more about the intricacies
of formation flying.
Gus Larard, Chief Pilot (B777),
says the sharing session was a
very useful exercise for all concerned.
“We operate different aircraft
and are tasked with very different
flying operations, but it was clear
that we share the same skills, passion
and goals. We all benefited from the experience,”
says Gus.
The collaboration came about after Simon
Moran, a First Officer in the 777 fleet,
approached Breitling about 18 months
ago to develop a special-edition watch.
The resulting timepiece features
the Cathay Pacific and Boeing 777
logos on Breitling’s “Aerospace”
watch dial, and more than
100 pieces have been sold
so far.
The watch is on sale to all
CX staff – email Simon on
CRWSDM for more details.

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While it is great that we have recycle bins on
every floor in Cathay City to encourage all of
us to recycle more, without knowing what can
and cannot be recycled, we can actually do
more harm than good.
One notable misconception is that most paper
products are recyclable, including used paper
cups, soiled napkins, paper bags and paper
plates. The reality is paper products that are
contaminated by food, oil, grease or organic
waste are not recyclable.
Not only that such contaminants cannot be
separated from the paper fibre in the pulping
process and will ruin the entire mixture (which
will end up in landfills rather than as new paper),
soiled paper also poses
a health hazard to those
who work in recycling
plants as it can harbour
viruses, bacteria and
moulds.
Similarly, fax paper or
paper mixed/lined with
Guitar blues
In March I travelled to Manila on CX905 and
brought along a new guitar for my children.
During check-in I was told that the guitar
needed to be checked in as baggage and
would not be allowed inside the cabin.
Since the guitar was inside a sturdy case
and marked fragile, I was confident that it
would arrive in Manila without any problems.
However, when I retrieved the guitar
from the baggage conveyor, I was shocked
and disappointed to find the case soaking
wet, inside as well as out.
I spent a lot of time at home drying both
the case and the guitar. Fortunately there
was no water damage to the guitar itself.
Can we review our current procedures to
ensure that musical instruments checked in
as baggage are handled and treated with
the utmost care?
Engineering staff, Hong Kong
Fancy Lam, Baggage Services Manager,
replies: We are sorry to learn that your
guitar was wet on arrival. Please contact me
with the flight date of the CX905 flight so
we can follow up with the Hong Kong and
Manila teams.
During adverse weather condition,
despite our best efforts, it is sometimes
plastic/wax are not recyclable.
Many of us are keen to protect the environment
and want to recycle more. May I suggest
that information on what can and cannot be recycled
is provided both on IntraCX and where
recycle bins are located, so that we can all recycle
smarter both at work and in our personal
lives?
Andrew Lee
Airline Purchasing
Prian Chan, Assistant Environmental
Manager, replies: Thanks for bringing this up,
Andrew. While more detailed information on
recycling is available on intraCX (ENV > Key
Environmental Issues > Green Tips > Waste
Handling in the Office), we will look into having
the information displayed more prominently to
ensure our good intentions have the maximum
impact.
We will also be looking into communicating
recycling information through CX World and
Daily News.
unavoidable that some baggage is exposed
to the elements. Having said that, we are
committed to taking all possible measures
to properly handle passengers’ baggage.
Staff can find info for the carriage of
musical instruments at www.cathaypacific.
com > Helping You Travel > Baggage >
Musical Instruments.
Subload
embarrassment
It’s a common practice nowadays wherein
subload passengers are offered the main
course, cheese and fruit and dessert service
last, regardless of where they are seated in
the Business Class cabin or whether they
have been upgraded or not.
Sometimes this practice causes unnecessary
embarrassment on the part of the
subload passengers and also brings them
to the attention of normal full-fare passengers,
especially if the seat layout is like that
of Regional Business Class.
I would like to know if this practice is acceptable,
as it was not taught in training
school but seems to be becoming the norm
nowadays. When travelling subload we are
asked to be as low-profile as possible but
this practice brings unnecessary attention
The winner of the CX World Star
Letter wins a pair of decidedly
quirky Quarkie earphones from
the UK.
Quarkie earphones were created
by a British and Asian design team
of music lovers, marrying striking
sound with eye-catching designs.
This month’s winner wins a pair
of striking Cat Eye phones featuring
British studio-monitor sound
quality.
Find Quarkie at Sogo, HMV, CD
Warehouse and other outlets in
Hong Kong.
from the rest of the passengers.
Flight Purser, Hong Kong
Le Le Ng, Inflight Service Standards Manager
in ISD, replies: Thank you for your letter.
Staff travellers should be afforded the same service
that CX is recognised for, both on ground
and inflight.
The flight experience of ID passengers should
reflect the service style of the class in which
they are travelling. In our Operating Manuals,
it clearly states that appropriate treatment
should be extended by cabin crew to ID passengers
and that, wherever possible, ID passengers
should be given the same meals, amenities
and service as revenue passengers.
Of course, our revenue passengers’ needs
must come first but we do ask our crew to treat
ID passengers with the same courtesy.
Picture this
Can more departments circulate their
organisation charts with photos attached? The
Distribution team has done it and it makes it so
much easier when dealing with colleagues one
has never actually met to see a face – and I’m sure
that’s true for both parties. There may be privacy
issues to overcome and manage, but in general
surely it would be a good goal within CX?
Faceless in the outports
Compassionate care
Crew and ground staff were
praised by a passenger
who had to fly from Riyadh
to New Zealand for a medical
emergency…
The passenger had to fly back home
with family members after hearing his
16-year-old niece had been in an accident
and her life was in the balance.
The flight from Riyadh was delayed
and the passenger praised the customer
service skills of the cabin crew and
Captain Glenn Devonport on CX648.
ISM Sit Meei Choong managed to
convince the ground staff to run with
the passengers to the departure gate for
the Auckland flight.
The passenger also praised Kennis
Cheng who rushed them through transit
and to Gate 48 at the Hong Kong
airport. “All of this was done with
kind words, warm hearts, and hopeful
wishes,” the passenger wrote.
“We wish to thank the staff specifically
involved for their care and fantastic listening
skills. In time, we hope to have
our niece back to complete health.”
Security savior
A customer wrote to praise
Passenger Services Officer
Ovais Mohammed for his
help and kindness in a desperate
moment…
The passenger carried a bottle of expensive
wine to the flight but was sent back
by security because the wine could not
pass through security.
She tried to check in the wine as
luggage, but the check-in counter was
closed. “Luckily, I met Ovais Mohammed
who was very helpful and intelligent
in solving my problem,” she wrote.
Ovais tried to contact her husband
by WhatsApp and other means but
his roaming service was down and he
couldn’t access WiFi in the airport.
“In the end it was through Ovais’
announcement over the PA that my
husband heard his name and was able to
go to the counter and get my expensive
wine,” she said.

When the call went out for a food-loving cabin crew
with an outgoing personality to serve as a judge in the
Noodles of Asia contest, San Francisco-based Satomi
Aoki was the perfect fit.
Satomi attended culinary school after high school
and has a degree in Culinary Arts and Patisserie. Prior
to becoming a flight attendant she worked as a pantry
chef, line cook and pastry chef, and now spends her
free time cooking, travelling and trying out new cuisines.
“I especially like to incorporate all three, and I’ve taken
cooking lessons in Florence, Cambodia and Nepal. It’s
a great experience to learn local produce and cooking
methods in the regions I travel to,” says Satomi.
The Noodles of Asia contest has been organised by
the North America team and aims to find some great
new noodle dishes to serve passengers inflight. Satomi
will join a panel of distinguished judges which includes
TV celebrity Martin Yan.
“I will be looking for something exciting in the noodle
dishes – mixing different layers, inventive, while keeping
it well balanced,” she explains.
Satomi’s favourite noodle is Japanese soba because
of its grainy texture, the healthy properties of buckwheat
flour and the lightness it provides.
“My favourite way to serve noodles is cold. It probably
stems from growing up in Hawaii and spending hot
summers in Japan with my grandparents. It’s refreshing
to the palette and you get the true taste of the noodles,”
Satomi smiles.
The CX Korea team held a “Beautiful
Saturday” community event on 6
April, working in conjunction with the
Beautiful Store team.
Beautiful Store is a leading social
enterprise in Korea that promotes
environmental awareness through
recycling activities, gives more
chances to the marginalized in
society and acts as a “Mother NGO”
to support a wide range of community
charity activities and local grassroots
projects.
CX staff donated more than 800
items for the event, while 19 staff
volunteers supported sales for Beautiful
Saturday and assisted customers visiting
CX Italy staged a gala ceremony for
the Cathay Pacific Business Award
on 28 March, held at the stunning La
Triennale contemporary museum of
art and design in Milan.
The team decided to make a
change to mark the 10th edition of the
programme – the CPBA now awards
the store.
The story attracted widespread
media coverage and was a hit with
shoppers on a rainy Seoul Saturday.
The main photo above shows Kidae
Lee (left), Executive Director
of Beautiful Store, and
Country Manager Korea
Clarence Chung (sixth
from right) with two
Beautiful Store staff
and CX volunteers who
helped out on the morning shift.
Italian companies that have been
successful in developing business
not just in Hong Kong and China, but
across the whole of the Asia-Pacific
region.
This year’s theme was “Vision” – the
ability to look to the future – and was
reflected in the keynote speech by
Director Sales & Marketing Rupert
Hogg and by other guest speakers.
Italian companies were awarded
in the categories of Creativity,
Dynamism, Innovation and Knowhow,
and special awards given
to for Best Female Entrepreneur,
Hong Kong and Young Talent.
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Bangkok’s Prateep Sukcharern was delighted to receive
the gold award at the Suvarnabhumi Service Excellence
Awards presentation ceremony for his great customer
service at Suvarnabhumi Airport.
Airport Services Supervisor Prateep assisted a
passenger to locate his missing luggage. Although the
process took more than a month, Prateep did not give
up and kept following up until the luggage was found in
Vietnam. He then arranged to have the luggage delivered
to the passenger in Hong Kong.
His great determination and effort were very much
appreciated by the grateful passenger. They also earned
him an award nomination from his Airport Services
Manager, Supaporn Jitsiripol.
Prateep remembered the
challenges of dealing with the
angry passenger.
“I always put myself in our
passengers’ shoes so that I
can understand their feelings,”
says Prateep.
He was able to placate the
passenger and change
his mood from angry to
calm and finally happy
after the luggage was
eventually found.
“I didn’t give up
because I was
confident it could
be done. I think
a bit of good
luck helped too!”
Prateep said.
The CX/KA team in Taiwan held separate media gatherings
in Taipei and Kaohsiung in March, at which General
Manager Taiwan & Korea Vivian Lo thanked
journalists for their long-term support for
the airlines.
At the gathering in Taipei the team
gave a presentation on the World
Pass product, which got a great
response from those present.
The team also held gatherings
for Marco Polo Club members in
Kaoshiung in mid-March. Around 20
high-tier members joined the event
and shared their travel experiences with
the Taiwan team.
The Colombo team hosted an
awards ceremony recently to
recognise and reward the valuable
support rendered by local travel
partners.
Diamond, Gold, Silver and Bronze
honours were dished out to the
agents, and a few also received Merit
awards based on their performance.
The award presentation was
followed by a gala dinner at The
Tintagel hotel in Colombo with
several CX executives in attendance
as well as representatives from
Finlays Colombo – CX’s GSA in Sri
Lanka.

Seeing Jacqueline Lau in her Flight Purser
uniform, it’s hard to imagine that she is also
a gifted sharpshooter who currently ranks
number one in Hong Kong in the
10m air rifle event.
Jacqueline was first introduced
to the sport by an induction
classmate in 2008 and her interest
developed rapidly.
“At first it was mainly my
friends who kept me motivated.
It wasn’t until 2010
that I joined a local club
and started practicing
more seriously,” she
says.
Jacqueline’s talent
was quickly recognised.
In 2012 she represented
Hong Kong at the South East
Asia Shooting Championships
in Kuala Lumpur and her score
of 385 points was the highest
ever by a local female team
member competing overseas.
“I was really happy as it was
my first competition outside Hong
Kong!” Jacqueline grins.
Jacqueline explains that it is important
to keep calm when shooting.
Good muscle strength and body endurance
is also essential – “an air rifle
weighs about 4.5kg and you have to hold it
steady as you aim and shoot. In the women’s
competition, each competitor needs to fire 40
shots in 50 minutes,” Jacqueline explains.
“Luckily for me, I don’t have shaky hands.
Maybe that’s why my friends always ask me to
take photos for them!”
Just back from her vacation, Jacqueline is
gearing up to spend more time on her shooting
practice. Her goal is to be the first person in
Hong Kong to get a maximum 400 score.
She has been in a training role in ISD
since 2007 and says this allows her to
practice on a more regular basis.
“This is a wonderful job. I‘ve developed
many new skills over the years and become
more self-confident,” Jacqueline
says.
When not busy working or shooting,
Jacqueline also spends time
volunteering as a puppy walker for
the Hong Kong Seeing Eye Dog
Services.
“It’s like being a foster parent,
taking care of guide-dog
puppies,” she explains.
“Later, after they’ve
been through their
training, they will
help to improve the
lives of visually impaired
people.”
PREMIUM GATHERING: The HKIA Premium Services Team
said “cheers” to everyone to mark the festive season.

The Copthorne Orchid Hotel
in Penang is offering an
enticing deal for staff looking
for a beach getaway that’s also
close to the city action.
The hotel is located at Tanjung Bungah
(Flower Cape) beach and is one of the
nearest beach hotels to downtown George
Town.
Staff can enjoy a standard room for
MYR150 per night (HK$380) or a superior
room for MYR170.
The rate includes free Wi-Fi throughout
the hotel, free use of the sauna/Jacuzzi
and a special breakfast rate of MYR18 per
person.
See Travel Desk for more details.
After a quick look through scuba diving
guides to India, it seemed the Andaman
Islands were the place to be. I recruited a
friend and my sister to the cause, booked
flights and set off, snorkels in hand.
The first stop was Port Blair, a bustling
little city with decent dosas and extremely
friendly locals. A team of about 15, including
two passing doctors, our auto driver, a
teacher and various others pulled together
to help us buy sun cream at 8am! We
then headed out on the government ferry
to Havelock Island and arrived at the dive
shop a few hours later.
The diving was amazing, made slightly
more amazing by the chai and samosas
on the boat in between dives.
Underwater wrecks, huge Napoleon
wrasses, turtles, stunning coral, flying fish
and a panoply of other fish I’m
glad weren’t there when I took
my fish identification exam in
July. It was all a bit Life of
Pi, just without the whales,
sharks, jellyfish and tiger.
Unfortunately I only took
my camera out on the last
day when visibility was pretty bad and the
seas too rough to go anywhere exciting.
My exploration was mainly limited to under
the water though we did hire bicycles
one afternoon and explore the nearby
town and the main beach on the other side
of the island. Previously voted one of the
best beaches in Asia, it is lined by hills
of verdant jungle with knee-deep water
stretching out into the horizon.
The Andaman Islands
haven’t had the greatest
reputation, historically. Before
gaining notoriety for
the large prison situated
there in the 17th to 19th
centuries, Ptolemy referred
to them as the “Cannibal
Isles” while Marco Polo
quite unkindly spoke about “dog-faced
cannibals” – a reputation likely propagated
by nearby pirates to keep others away
from their waters.
I am happy to report that the islanders
were very friendly people and the
scenery stunning. I would definitely recommend
a trip for anyone interested
in being underwater or just near some
awesome beaches.
SCENIC SPLENDOR:
India’s Andaman Islands
boast beautiful scenery both
below and above water, says
Samantha Horn (pictured left).
There’s a treat in store for fans of classic
rock in June when Ian Anderson arrives in
Hong Kong.
The singer/flute
player was the
indisputable leader
of iconic rock band
Jethro Tull and he’ll
be playing “The
Very Best of Jethro
Tull - Never Too Old
to Rock ‘n’ Roll at
AsiaWorld-Expo Hall
10 on 24 June.
As well as
some classic Tull songs, the concert
promises a “unique atmosphere and
inspirational humour”. More at www.
euroasiaentertainment.com
New York is home to many parades and
they don’t come more colourful than the
National Puerto Rican Day Parade.
This year’s parade is a freewheeling
celebration for me mbers of one of New
York’s largest immigrant groups. Scantily
clad revelers will accompany vibrant floats,
all with a salsa music soundtrack.
The parade
takes place
on 9 June
from 44th St
to 79th St on
Fifth Avenue.
SHOW US YOUR TIPS!
CX World welcomes staff travel tips from
across the network – email us at CCD#SCT
Snap happy
HK$500 for a travel tale!
This month’s contribution comes from Marie Christine
(Khrys) Neri, a Senior Purser with a lust for travel and
photography.
“I was called on standby to operate to Singapore and
my colleagues wondered how, despite having to rush for
the flight, I was still able to bring my ca mera gear,” says
Khrys.
“I told them that after all these years of flying, I still look
forward to travelling to new places and meeting different
people. And, as a hobbyist photographer, I really go out
of my way to find photo opportunities. It makes my flying
life more interesting!”
Khrys took some stunning shots during her trip to
the Lion City last year. This particular picture is one of
her favourites, a vibrant display of the ever-changing
Singapore Skyline from the viewing deck at Marina Bay
Sands.
Every month, CX World invites all CX
staff to tell unusual, interesting or just
downright quirky tales of travel moments
around the world.
Sponsored by Inflight Sales, the lucky
sender of the main story receives HK$500
worth of inflight sales
products of their choice
from the ever-changing
collection of over
260 items on offer
(excluding liquor and
cigarettes).
Go shopping at
www.cathaypacific.
com/dutyfree.