Cathay announces 3 senior leadership appointments as it looks to recovery

Cathay has made three management appointments with all of them effective from 1 August after announcing a plan to launch a new range of offers earlier this month. 

Paul Smitton (pictured left) will assume the role of director customer lifestyle, leading the newly created customer lifestyle business line. Smitton’s portfolio will be accountable for helping Cathay to also become a premium lifestyle brand, including setting strategic direction and executing the company’s travel lifestyle initiatives, achieving its customer lifestyle-related financial ambitions, and growing customer relationships.

Boasting over 20 years of experience in different parts of the world, Smitton joined the Cathay Pacific Group as Asia Miles CEO in 2018, before becoming general manager, customer relationship and retail in 2020.

Lawrence Fong (pictured middle) will continue to lead the business' IT and digital functions as director digital and IT. He will collaborate with all departments across the company to drive its digital leadership strategy and elevate its focus on its digital and IT transformation. Currently, Fong is group general manager, digital and information technology and is responsible for the group’s digital transformation programmes. He joined Cathay Pacific in 1990 and has held multiple managerial positions in IT and e-Business across the company.

Meanwhile, Lavinia Lau (pictured right) will become director customer travel, leading the customer travel business line that will be accountable for the customer travel experience design, as well as the passenger commercial functions that she has already been looking after.  Lau has been director commercial for the past two years, responsible for the passenger functions of revenue management, as well as sales and distribution, together with planning for both the passenger and freighter fleets. She joined Cathay Pacific in 1999 and has held various senior management positions within the commercial functions over the years.

“As we look forward to the recovery, the new appointments will be instrumental in helping us deliver our vision for the Cathay Pacific Group to become one of the world’s greatest service brands," said Augustus Tang, chief executive officer of Cathay Pacific. 

In early July, Cathay Pacific announced a plan to launch a new premium travel lifestyle brand called Cathay that offers a new range of offers in dining, shopping, hotels, and wellness, enabling the brand to engage customers not only when they fly with the company but other areas of people's lives. The first of these offers will be a new Cathay co-branded credit card which will be launched in Hong Kong. 

Cathay brings together Cathay Pacific, Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles all in one place, simplifying the way the brand’s customers interact with it, including how they earn status and use miles. According to the company, Cathay was created to make its proposition more appealing. 

Initially, Cathay will only be available in Hong Kong while Cathay Pacific will continue to be the brand known to the rest of the world. Over time, the Cathay premium travel lifestyle brand will be extended to other markets.

Related articles
Cathay Pacific director customer resigns after 12 years, one of 2 senior exits
Cathay Pacific unveils name for premium HK-first lifestyle brand
Cathay Pacific said to adopt new biz model likened to AirAsia