Cathay Pacific reveals new-look brand

Cathay Pacific has lifted the covers on a refreshed logo and brand which the airline describes as "a cleaner, crisper, more contemporary identity" which will "help passengers travel well."

Both the logotype and 'brushwing' brandmark have been refined and simplified.

In the words of Cathay's marketeers "the brushwing no longer sits constrained inside a box, and has been gently harmonised and set free."

The move also introduces colour-coding for different classes of travel.

However, the project – which was 18 months in the making, and will take another 18 months to fully roll out – will extend to the design of new websites, lounges, cabins, in-flight service, entertainment products and more.

The first concrete example will be Cathay's new lounge at Japan's Tokyo Haneda airport, which will open in December.

"Working with world-class designers we are striving to make the customer experience simpler, better and more relevant to what passengers aspire to today" the airline explains.

Passengers "will also see a greater focus and attention to design with signature elements that are unique to our brand, creating greater consistency across the passenger journey."

For more on the new brand, click through to cathaypacific.com/thenextchapter

Also read: Cathay Pacific's Airbus A350 next-gen business class

PREVIOUS | Cathay Pacific will unveil a 'brand refresh' in mid-November which will see Cathay positioned as a premium travel experience which extends beyond the airline itself.

"'Travelling well' will be a core part of the brand refresh" reveals Dane Cheng, Cathay Pacific's Director of Sales & Marketing.

"We see Cathay Pacific as global brand which is not just about the airline but about the lifestyle, about travelling well and travelling in style and being well looked after," Cheng tells Australian Business Traveller.

Part of this will be the launch of an online "retail travel platform" in early November through which Cathay Pacific will sell  "a range of premium travel products" Cheng says. "Not just airfares but hotels, car hire, the whole journey, which fits into 'travel well'."

However, there won't be a "significant difference" to the highly-recognised Cathay Pacific logo, apart from a minor change to the font.

"It's more progressive and reflects where we are now" Cheng explains. "We have some of the  best lounges in the world, one of the best first class and business class products, so it's time for us to have our brand revitalised to keep up with that product."

"Are they an airline or a Chinese restaurant?"

Ironically, Cheng reflects that in the airline's early days of worldwide expansion there was resistance in some quarters to the Cathay Pacific name.

"We had some of our major sales regions say that we can't call ourselves "Cathay Pacific' because people would think we are a Chinese restaurant!" Cheng laughs.

"People said 'You must have Airline or Airways attached to your name'."

Cathay Pacific was also one of the few airlines at the time which didn't include the name of a country in its brand. "Among Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Thai and so on, we were an odd one out."

A cornerstone of the brand will remain what Cheng calls the "Asian-ness" of Cathay Pacific.

"We're very proud of our Asian roots and we have our cabin attendants from most of the Asian countries, and Asia is very famous for hospitality and service standards, so the whole brand proposition retains a lot of this Asian-ness."

Also read: Cathay Pacific's Airbus A350 next-gen business, first class

Follow Australian Business Traveller on Twitter: we're @AusBT

David Flynn

David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.