Cathay Pacific 2006 Annual Report Download - page 42

In continuing to recognise our responsibility towards
our stakeholders, and in meeting the expectations of
our passengers, staff, investors and the community at
large, we undertook a stakeholder dialogue exercise
in 2006. This helped to identify the key issues for
our first standalone Corporate Social Responsibility
(“CSR”) Report, which is now available at
www.cathaypacific.com.
The dialogue, undertaken by an independent facilitator,
revealed that in general Cathay Pacific is seen as
a successful company with a positive image and
brand, and is viewed as a company that is particularly
strong in community involvement and generous
with sponsorship and charities. Communication was
identified as an area for improvement and this had
been addressed by the publication of the CSR Report
and, internally, through an internal website dedicated
to environmental matters.
Cathay Pacific strives to be a good corporate
citizen, adhering to rigorous ethical and professional
standards and insisting on high levels of honest,
accountable and transparent decision-making in all
areas of operations. We endeavour to deliver superior
financial returns and to achieve operational excellence
in everything we do.
Contribution to the community
We have always held a strong belief that we should
put something back into the communities in which we
operate, and which have given us so much support
over the years. This is particularly true in our home
market, Hong Kong, where we support a number of
community initiatives throughout the year.
Our signature youth-development programme in
Hong Kong is “I Can Fly”, which gives 1,000 local
teenagers the chance to learn more about aviation and
also devise their own community service initiatives.
Our pilots and staff act as mentors throughout the
programme. We also support the Life Education
Activity Programme (“LEAP”), which tours Hong
Kong schools to promote healthy lifestyles and teach
young people about the dangers of drug and alcohol
abuse. In the 2005/2006 academic year, some 75,000
students received LEAP’s interactive, health-based
drug prevention programmes.
We have been supporting UNICEF through the
Change for Good inflight fundraising programme since
1991, raising more than HK$74 million during that
time. Change for Good raised almost HK$10 million
in the 2005/2006 programme year with an average
of one month’s proceeds going to the Cathay Pacific
Wheelchair Bank. Set up to provide specially adapted
chairs for children with neuromuscular diseases,
the Wheelchair Bank recently celebrated its
10th anniversary.
The Cathay Pacific International Wilderness
Experience has been running since 1994, taking young
people from Hong Kong and various cities around
the Asia Pacific region to a safari camp in South
Africa. The programme aims to promote ecological
awareness and cross-cultural understanding among
the young participants. So far, more than 550 people
have taken part.
Our travel reward programme, Asia Miles, has four
charity partners – Oxfam, UNICEF, Project Orbis and
CARE – that are supported by members’ donations of
miles. We continue to support staff in the development
of their own community projects, which include the
Cathay Pacific Airways Limited Annual Report 2006
40
Corporate Responsibility