Cathay Pacific ridiculed for spelling its own name wrong on the side of plane

Cathay Pacific, the flag carrier of Hong Kong, has been roundly mocked after the airline spelled its name wrong on the side of one of its planes.

A photo was posted on social media of the aircraft with the name emblazoned on its right-hand side missing an F and reading: “CATHAY PACIIC.”

Cathay Pacific, which flies between London and Hong Kong, tweeted a trio of images, the third showing a worker fixing the mistake, with the caption: “Oops this special livery won’t last long. She’s going back to the shop!”

Travellers had spotted the mistake at Hong Kong International Airport and contacted the airline, which said it was a genuine mistake.

However, an engineer for Haeco, a sister company of the airline, told the South China Morning Post that the error, which could cost thousands of dollars to rectify, looked staged.

“The spacing is too on-point for a mishap,” the engineer said. “There should be a blank gap in between letters if it was a real mistake I think.”

Marketing stunt or not, Twitter users took the opportunity to make gags at the airline’s expense. “No f’s were given that day,” wrote one.

“Does it say CATHAY PACFFC on the other side of the fuselage?” wrote another.

A third commented: “Great that you can have a laugh about this in public. Air travel needs to lighten up.”

Cathay Pacific was founded in 1946 and carried some 34.8 million passengers last year, along with its subsidiary airline, Cathay Dragon. It flies to 76 destinations around the world, including cities in Europe, Asia and Australasia. The airline has a codeshare agreement with British Airways.

Cathay Pacific’s name comes from Cathay being the ancient name given to China, and Pacific as one of its founders in 1946 hoped one day the airline would fly across the Pacific Ocean, something it achieved in the Seventies.