Cathay celebrates 80th birthday with retrojets
In 2026, Cathay Pacific celebrates its 80th birthday. Part of the celebrations is the introduction of a retro livery on three of its aircraft. The first aircraft that received the so called green "lettuce" livery is A350-941 B-LRJ (061). It embarked on its first commercial flight after repaint on 6 January 2026, flying from Hong Kong to San Francisco (CA).
The other two aircraft that will receive the retro livery are B777-367 B-HNJ (27509) and B747-867F B-LJE (39242). Both are currently at Xiamen for the repaint and are planned to return to service this month.
Cathay Pacific launched its very first flight on 25 September 1946. It was conducted by DC-3 VR-HDB, which flew from Hong Kong to Sydney. A journey that took 64 hours. In 1983, Cathay bought back the Dakota and you can find it today at the Hong Kong Science Museum.
Illustration by Cathay Pacific.