Cathay Pacific

History

2022: Route increase by 3.5 thousand km due to Russian sanctions

At the end of March 2022, the Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific Airways plans to change the route of its flight from New York to Hong Kong in order to avoid Russian airspace, which will become the world's longest commercial passenger flight by distance. The duration of the flight will be 17 hours.

Cathay Pacific Airways plans to fly from John Kennedy International Airport over the Atlantic Ocean, Great Britain, Southern Europe and Central Asia, according to an official note for airline employees, reports Bloomberg. The distance of 16 thousand km will surpass the New York Singapore Airlines flight, which takes about 17 and a half hours to overcome 15 thousand km based on FlightRadar24 data.

A spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific Airways said the A350-1000 Airbus SE is capable of serving a route that usually runs over the Arctic and through Russian airspace. Many airlines in March 2022 avoid Russian airspace due to its special operation in Ukraine. Cathay Pacific Airways reported that management daily tracks tailwinds in search of more profitable routes.

We always develop alternate routes in case of possible events or scenarios. The transatlantic option depends on promoting strong seasonal tailwinds in the spring season so that the flight time is from 16 to 17 hours, which makes it more favorable than the Trans-Pacific route, said Cathay Pacific Airways spokeswoman Xin Chen.

US airline forced to increase route by 3.5 thousand km due to Russian sanctions

The Hong Kong airline is requesting permission to fly to operate the service, which, according to the company, is normal for the updated route. Before the pandemic of coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which greatly reduced the airline's schedule. Cathay Pacific Airways operated up to three flights in both directions between Hong Kong and Kennedy Airport daily.^[1]

2020: Airline will pay 9.4 million customers for data leakage

In early 2020, Cathay Pacific was fined 500 thousand pounds (about $642 thousand) for a large-scale leak of data from its customers, which became known in October 2018. The decision was made by the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

This leak is more worrying about the number of inconsistencies with basic security standards in Cathay Pacific, which provided hackers with easy access, says ICO Director of Investigations Steve Eckersley. - The many serious deficiencies we found were far below standard expectations.

Cathay Pacific was fined 500 thousand pounds (about $642 thousand) for a large-scale leak of data from its customers, which became known in October 2018

According to the regulator, the air carrier could not fulfill four of the five points of the main set of rules of the National Cyber Security Center.

The attackers stole the personal data of 9.4 million passengers (among them 115,578 British residents), including names, nationality, date of birth, telephone number, email address, passport number, ID number, number in the frequent flyer incentive program, customer service notes, as well as information about past trips.

Cathay Pacific's official statement stated that 860,000 passports and approximately 245,000 Hong Kong identity cards had been stolen. In addition, a certain amount of information about bank cards "leaked," fortunately, there were only 403 pieces. In fact, combinations of compromised data varied from passenger to passenger.

The airline is not going to appeal the fine. According to the South China Morning Post, the punishment for Cathay Pacific turned out to be maximum for the British Data Protection Act, while in accordance with European law the fine could amount to $564 million.^[2]

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