=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/c/a/2005/02/16/BUGM0BBHU2= 1.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Wednesday, February 16, 2005 (SF Chronicle) Cathy Pacific opens headquarters in S.F./North American office relocated fr= om Los Angeles David Armstrong, Chronicle Staff Writer Rains worthy of a Hong Kong typhoon drenched San Francisco on Tuesday, b= ut the business climate was sunny and bright as Cathay Pacific Airways opened its new North America headquarters on Union Square with a Chinese lion dance, roast pig and upbeat outlooks from airline, city and tourism officials. Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong's biggest airline, ran its North America operations from Los Angeles for 15 years before moving to expanded digs in the Tiffany Building. The airline brought 11 employees from Los Angeles, hired 11 more in the Bay Area and retained everyone from its five-person San Francisco sales office to staff its new 27-person operation, said Tom Wright, executive vice president for the Americas. "Northern California is a market we really want to focus on," Wright sai= d, citing the area's large Chinese American community, long-standing cultural and commercial ties between San Francisco and Hong Kong, and an increase in cargo shipments from mainland China through Hong Kong. "It makes better sense ... to be in San Francisco," he said. Cathay is the second Asian carrier to open its North America headquarters in San Francisco, following Vietnam Airlines, which is considering flying between Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco. San Francisco International Airport Director John Martin said Tuesday that service could begin this year but stopped short of saying it is a done deal. Ironically, San Francisco was Cathay Pacific's regional headquarters in the 1980s, before the airline pulled out in 1990 to expand its presence in Los Angeles. For a time, Cathay, a well-regarded carrier considered to be in a league with other top Asian airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, didn't fly to or from San Francisco at all. Cathay restarted direct, nonstop service between SFO and Hong Kong in 19= 98 and operates it once a day. The airline's executives cite the steady strength of that route as another factor in returning Cathay's regional headquarters to San Francisco. Even with the move, Los Angeles has more of the airline's business. Cath= ay operates two daily flights between Hong Kong and Los Angeles International Airport. It also makes seven cargo flights a week from Hong Kong to LAX, compared with four to SFO. The carrier doesn't break out profit margins or load factors -- the percentage of seats filled -- for specific routes. "Systemwide, we are running at 78-79 percent, and our North America service is higher than that," Wright said. Wright and Cathay's chief operating officer, Tony Tyler, who flew to San Francisco from Hong Kong for Tuesday's opening, cited SFO's modernity as one benefit of operating there. By contrast, LAX faces billions in costs to upgrade its aging facilities. SFO's 4-year-old International Terminal was designed to handle the next generation of superjumbo jetliners, such as Airbus' A380, which is scheduled to begin flying next year and which will have the capacity for nearly 1,000 passengers, depending on seat configuration. Cathay has not ordered the A380, but Tyler, who attended Airbus' unveiling of the mammoth plane in Toulouse, France, last month, said the airline is considering ordering the A380. Tourism industry officials welcomed the return of Cathay. John Marks, president of the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the new office is a vote of confidence in SFO and lends "a certain prestige" to San Francisco. "I'd like to see them run more flights," he said. "We will be expanding here," Tyler said. "The question is when." E-mail David Armstrong at davidarmstrong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx --------------= -------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2005 SF Chronicle