Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific to buy budget airline Hong Kong Express

The purchase will be made in cash and through promissory loan notes, the company said in a stock filing.

Hong Kong Express, which flies to destinations across Asia, will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific.

Cathay Pacific has been overhauling its business to cut costs, and returned to profit in 2018.

"We intend to continue to operate Hong Kong Express as a stand-alone airline using the low-cost carrier business model," a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said in a statement.

Cathay Pacific sells first-class tickets at economy rates again

Tickets on trips from Hong Kong to Portugal were sold on the airline's website for $1,512, instead of $16,000 usually charged for a similar journey.

The carrier said it would honour the tickets as it investigates the cause of the error.

It extends a recent run of blows to the firm including a huge data breach.

The mispriced fares were available on Cathay Pacific's website on Sunday.

First-class flights from Lisbon to Hong Kong - via London with a connecting flight - were offered for $1,512 (£1,177), according to the South China Morning Post.

Cathay Pacific spells own name wrong on new plane

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific painted its name as "Cathay Paciic" on the side of the jet.

Eagle-eyed travellers spotted the mistake at Hong Kong International Airport and contacted the airline.

"Oops this special livery won't last long! She's going back to the shop!" the company joked on Twitter.

The airline said it was a genuine mistake, although some in the industry said it was inexplicable.

"The spacing is too on-point for a mishap," an engineer for Haeco, a sister company of the airline, told the South China Morning Post.