Meet our people

Meet some of the IT experts behind our world-class airline.

Our talented IT professionals come from diverse backgrounds, however they share a few core qualities: a great passion for aviation and travel, and a strong commitment to driving innovative systems that enable us to remain a world-leading airline. Watch our video interviews to gain some insight into what it’s like to have an IT career at Cathay Pacific.

Cherry Lui

IT Project Manager

Prior to joining Cathay Pacific five years ago, Cherry worked in a logistics field. Now as a Project Manager within our IT department, she delivers major projects that add visible value to the flight operations of Cathay Pacific and Dragonair.

One of the reasons that Cherry chose Cathay Pacific over other Hong Kong based organisations was the sheer size scale and excitement of our operation, and the great amount of resources that are invested in people development. Cherry appreciates that there is well-established IT governance, as well as great collaboration opportunities that result in IT staff from across the organisation working together on process improvements and problem solving.

Kenneth Lee

Manager, IT Solutions - Sales & Marketing

Before starting a career with Cathay Pacific, Kenneth was an internal IT consultant for a professional services firm in Hong Kong. He came to us three years ago upon realising that he would like an opportunity to work in a dynamic environment to produce end-to-end solutions use by a diverse user group. More recently, Kenneth spends his time managing and developing solutions, to drive effective and innovative online sales and customer self-service capabilities found on Cathay Pacific's flagship website.

In his early days, Kenneth wanted to be a teacher or a social worker as he has always been drawn to the process of learning, excitement in consulting, and to help people solve their problems. The constant change in technology and regulations, together with the collaborative environment at Cathay Pacific allows him to do all of these things on a daily basis. He especially loves the way he and his colleagues will often engage in passionate technical discussions, challenging each other over issues they feel strongly about within a friendly and cooperative working space.

Anabelle Yeung

IT Service Centre

What qualifications and experience did you have when you applied for the programme?

I studied a double degree in Mathematics and Information Engineering. I also did a summer research internship.

Can you describe your experience so far?

To kick-start the programme, we had an orientation week where we met our managers and business users to understand IT strategy and how we communicate with different parties to deliver our projects. We also had a tour of Hong Kong International Airport to see how our frontline staff supports our business core functions, and understand how technology helps them to streamline the processes and better manage customers’ information.

I went to the Innovation Centre on my first rotation, a place where creative ideas for improving customers’ experience and airline performance are born. I learned how to manage projects by agile methodology, and to work with senior developers to develop mobile applications. I spent the second half of the year in the Infrastructure team, where I learned how people work together to provide solid infrastructure for Solution Centres to build applications and provide services.

What is the most exciting thing about being a graduate IT trainee?

What excites me most are the people in Cathay. As we rotate to different teams, we meet people with different characteristics and skill sets. By working together, not only can I learn solid IT knowledge, my soft skills such as project management and interpersonal skills are greatly improved. Most importantly, I’m amazed by the connection between people, and how they build trust within their teams and work closely together to deliver a project.

What are you passionate about? How does that relate to being a graduate IT trainee? 

I have always been passionate about how to improve customers’ experiences and how to use technology to create convenience. As a trainee, I can work on exciting projects such as the Self-Service Bag Drop and witness how technology can actually change our lives. Moreover, we trainees are given chances to propose or even build innovative solutions and add value to the business, from simplifying our teams’ daily operation processes to enhancing our own travel experience. These chances allow me to unleash my creativity and passion, and apply my programming skills to realise the ideas I have in mind.

Beatrice Ricafort

IT Solutions Centre

What qualifications and experience did you have when you applied for the programme?

I graduated with a dual degree in Technology and Management, majoring in Computer Engineering and General Business Management.  Before working at Cathay Pacific, I had gained experience as a developer from my part-time job and summer internship.

Can you tell us about your experience so far?

My first year as an IT Graduate Trainee has been packed with unique and valuable experiences.

My first rotation was in the Solutions Centre – Flight Operations team, which is responsible for supporting and delivering the systems that the Flight Operations department uses to run their operations. Over six months, I shadowed a Project Manager on her project of upgrading the safety system used by Cathay. This helped me quickly pick up what the different roles in IT are responsible for, including Project Managers, Business Analysts and Systems Analysts. Even though I was just a fresh graduate at the time, I was able to contribute to the project by helping to write the business case to obtain funding, and drafting the Statement of Work with our product supplier.

My second rotation was in the Infrastructure Engineering – Middleware and Database team. In this rotation, I contributed during the build of a new application that uses MongoDB and Docker, two of the latest technologies that help make our infrastructure more agile. This enabled me to brush up my technological skills and experience first-hand the developments and operations.

What is the most exciting thing about being a graduate IT trainee?

 We have so many opportunities to explore, learn and develop our skill-sets in areas we are interested in.

 All of us IT trainees complete four rotations in two years, but we each acquire a different set of experiences and exposure along the way. The programme considers each IT trainee's interests and abilities, and helps with our individual development by placing us in rotations that match our career interests. We are also given the opportunity to innovate and apply our own ideas through trainee-run improvement initiatives that train up our soft skills and critical thinking. In addition, we work with teammates from diverse backgrounds who are always ready to lend advice and share their experiences with us. 

What are you passionate about? How does that relate to being a graduate IT trainee?

I have always been intrigued by the complexity of airline operations; there are so many individual components working together to enable passengers to get from one location to another! At the same time, I love working with technology that adds value to our lives.

As an IT trainee, I can contribute to different areas of Cathay Pacific’s operations. Working with both the Flight Operations department and different IT teams has provided me with a comprehensive view as technology increasingly plays a part in moving flight operations towards a paperless solution. Over the past year, I’ve learned about both the business value that electronic solutions brings to operations, as well as all the different components that keep them running. I’m excited for what I will encounter next; there is definitely no shortage of things to learn in IT at Cathay Pacific!

Jason Kwok

IT Solutions Centre – Business Intelligence Competency Centre

What qualifications and experience did you have when you applied for the programme?

I studied Information Systems and Computer Science for my undergraduate degree. Before joining Cathay Pacific, I worked as an intern in the e-payment division of a Chinese financial firm and in an IT Advisory division in a professional services firm. 

Can you tell us about your experience so far?

The programme begins with a robust orientation. We hear from the Marketing team about how the Cathay Pacific brand is positioned, and from the in-flight staff, who helped me understand how our cabin crew cooperate to provide a safe journey for passengers. We also went behind the scenes at the Hong Kong International Airport and learned about how the airport operations work and how IT supports business activities.

Our first group task was to develop different mobile applications that aimed at enhancing the customer experience. The teams worked well and delivered good results amid a tight schedule and high technical complexity. The experience helped me to become more confident about succeeding in difficult tasks, and broadened my perspective of how IT delivers value to a business.

What is the most exciting thing about being a graduate IT trainee?

I feel gifted to be an IT Graduate trainee. The different rotations are enriching my experience and enabling me to learn and develop. In my Infrastructure team rotation, I’ll gain technical knowledge, and in the next round, I’ll get customer-facing experience with the IT Service Centre. All of this contributes to turning IT trainees into professionals.

I was assigned a mentor who helps me work better and facilitates my personal growth. Such feedback and assistance is very valuable to me at the start of my career.

The opportunity to socialise with the IT experts at Cathay Pacific has given me the chance to learn more about the field, and to develop a personal network here.

What are you passionate about? How does that relate to being a graduate IT trainee?

Not only am I passionate about Information Technology, but I’m also a civil aviation enthusiast! With the different rotations, I can see how different teams carry out robust IT services that support the airline in taking care of its passengers. I hope to become an expert in this field to enable our passengers to live a Life Well Travelled.