Cathay Pacific Brings Back the Iconic “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” Retro Livery for Its 80th Anniversary

Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong based airline, is bringing back its iconic “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” livery. The livery is part of the airline’s 80th year anniversary. Here’s what it’ll look like and what else the airline is doing for this milestone in its history.

What’s New From Cathay Pacific in This Post

• Cathay Pacific has kicked off its “80 Years Together” anniversary (2026) with a heritage “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery.
• The retro scheme is applied to one long-haul Airbus A350 passenger aircraft first.
• A second “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery will appear on a Boeing 747 freighter in the coming weeks.

Cathay Pacific’s “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” Livery Is Flying Again

Anyone the same age as me (I was born in 1990), or younger, will only remember Cathay Pacific aircraft painted in the current color scheme. What has become known as the brushwing era.

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However, from its founding up to the early 1990s the airline’s appearance was very different to what we’re used to today. Cathay Pacific’s planes used to be painted withe with a band of green stretching the length of the aircraft. For many that livery became lovingly known as the “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich”.

Cathay Pacific is bringing this livery back as part of its 80th year of activity celebrations on two very special aircraft.

The central piece of this initiative is a 2016 delivered Airbus A350-900 registered B-LRJ. The aircraft was pulled out of service on November 27th 2025, was repainted, and returned to Hong Kong on January 6th 2026.

Cathay Pacific is also repainting a cargo aircraft part of the Cathay Cargo fleet. That plane still hasn’t entered service in its new color scheme.

The Cathay Pacific Livery History From The Lettuce Leaf Sandwich to The Brushwing

Cathay Pacific is one of the most iconic and recognizable brands in the aviation industry. The airline’s founding dates back to 1946 when it first operated flights using a Douglas DC-3 nicknamed “Betsy”. That plane, interesting fact, is still on display at the Hong Kong science museum.

As the airline business took off in the 1970s Cathay Pacific adopted its first iconic livery. The “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” livery accompanied the airline in its years at Kai Tak International Airport. A few years before the 1998 move to the current Hong Kong International Airport, in 1994, the airline decided to modernize its livery.

A new iconic livery was born. The brushwing livery is simple and elegant with its white and tones of blue, along with the logo on the tail. In my opinion it remains, to this day, one of the most beautiful liveries industry-wide.

Since 1994 the livery has remained largely unchanged with a refresher only making minor changes in 2015.

Merch and Uniforms Also Part of The 80 Year Celebration

The celebratory events Cathay Pacific has unveiled for its 80th anniversary go beyond the retro livery applied to two planes. Staff and merchandise are also involved.

A special version of the crew uniform will soon appear onboard the airline’s flights. It will take inspiration from the legacy uniforms crew used to wear in what it commonly referred to as “the golden era of aviation”. Approximately 2,000 crew members will wear this special edition uniform.

Additionally merchandise will be available for purchase during the year with items from the same era as the “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich” livery. The list includes: watches, aircraft models, bag tags and other everyday traveler essentials.

Photo/Images: Cathay Pacific