--- title: Cathay Pacific Misspells Its Own Name on the Side of a Plane description: Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific misspelled its own name on the side of an airplane canonical: https://time.com/5401421/cathay-pacific-airplane-typo-misspelled-name/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-20T02:36:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:54:58.876Z og:title: Cathay Pacific Misspells Its Own Name on the Side of a Plane og:description: The carrier says the aircraft is going "back to the shop!" og:url: https://time.com/5401421/cathay-pacific-airplane-typo-misspelled-name/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeb879bfc9355b1d/69893ab4457a5262fed5f6e4/gettyimages-992369140.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: A Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 aircraft seen at the gate in og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cathay Pacific Misspells Its Own Name on the Side of a Plane twitter:description: The carrier says the aircraft is going "back to the shop!" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbeb879bfc9355b1d/69893ab4457a5262fed5f6e4/gettyimages-992369140.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Something Amiss? Cathay Pacific Misspelled Its Own Name on the Side of an Airplane by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Sep 20, 2018 2:36 AM UTC  A Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 aircraft seen at the gate in Hong Kong airport on July 3, 2018. A Cathay Pacific Boeing 777-300 aircraft seen at the gate in Hong Kong airport on July 3, 2018.Geovien So—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Sep 20, 2018 2:36 AM UTC Sometimes the biggest blunders are hidden in plain sight. That was the case this week for Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific, which [misspelled its own name](https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/cathay-pacific-livery-typo/index.html) on the side of an airplane. Photos made the rounds Wednesday showing a Boeing 777-367 at Hong Kong International Airport emblazoned with the letters: “CATHAY PACIIC.” The image first appeared on the [Hong Kong Aviation Discussion Board](https://www.facebook.com/pg/HKAviationDB/posts/?ref=page%5Finternal) Facebook group, CNN reports. > [](https://twitter.com/cathaypacific/status/1042252802917953536) An engineer at Haeco, the airline’s sister company, was at a [loss for an explanation](https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/transport/article/2164811/cathay-pacific-aeroplane-gets-new-paint-job-complete). “If it was a real mistake,” he told the South China _Morning Post_, there should have been “a blank gap” in place of the missing letter. “The spacing is too on-point for a mishap. We have stencils,” he added. According to the _Guardian_, the plane has been in the Hong Kong carrier’s fleet [since 2004](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/sep/19/cathay-pacific-spells-its-name-wrong-on-side-of-plane). It had just completed a journey to Hong Kong Wednesday from Xiamen, China, where Haeco provides airplane maintenance services for the airline. Cathay Pacific displayed a sense of humor about the mishap, posting that the “special livery won’t last long,” as the plane is headed “back to the shop!” It is unclear how much the blunder will cost to correct, but it could be thousands of dollars, according to the _Post_. Social media users had a bit of a field day with the error. “I’m sure someone will ix it,” the airline’s in-flight entertainment manager promised. > [](https://twitter.com/AghiadHaloul/status/1042285203115454464) > [](https://twitter.com/dsng/status/1042261430496571393) > [](https://twitter.com/shoxdude/status/1042443023769104384) > [](https://twitter.com/SimonCuthbert/status/1042294043189768192) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5401421/cathay-pacific-airplane-typo-misspelled-name/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5401421/cathay-pacific-airplane-typo-misspelled-name/"},"headline":"Something Amiss? 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