Cathay Pacific Teams Up With G.O.D. For New Amenity Kits

By Raymond Kollau, airlinetrends.com

Cathay Pacific has unveiled its new amenity kits for Premium Economy Class passengers which feature exclusive designs by home-grown Hong Kong brand G.O.D. (which stands for Goods of Desire). Cathay says its design collaboration with G.O.D. took inspiration from the “vibrant culture of Hong Kong, where East meets West and age-old traditions blend with cutting-edge technology.”

G.O.D. is a leading Hong Kong lifestyle brand, whose self-proclaimed mission is to “define a new Asian derived lifestyle concept as an alternative to the established Western way of living.” The company designs and retails stylish, affordable home furnishings and tableware, as well as some fashion items and “signature items with a quirky Hong Kong feel.”

Local design
Cathay Pacific General Manager Product Toby Smith said: “As Hong Kong’s home carrier, Cathay Pacific supports local design and creative culture. G.O.D. is known for its fun, niche and lifestyle designs, which is a good fit for our Premium Economy Class. The plan is to have four designs per year, two outbound and two inbound. The hope is that they will become real collectibles and that passengers can look forward to receiving a new design every time they travel.”

The first two designs on board are called ‘Joy’ and ’Fortune’. The ‘Joy’ design depicts Chinese gods enjoying themselves inflight by sipping coffee, using the computer or reading, and is available on flights departing Hong Kong, while the ‘Fortune’ design features a Chinese-style image of auspicious clouds and will be distributed on inbound flights. The kits will be progressively made available in Premium Economy for long haul flights from mid-October.

The amenity bag is made from at least 90 percent recycled plastic bottles while the toothbrush is made mainly from corn starch and cellulose, which is biodegradable, recyclable and uses fewer resources in its production. The kits have also been designed to become a collectible set. Each kit has a button at the back which allows additional bags to be attached to eventually create a wall-hanging accessory.

Local brands
Cathay’s partnership with G.O.D appears to part of a strategy by the airline to add a more local, contemporary Asian touch to the onboard experience, which is a relatively new approach for an Asian airline. So far, airlines from Asia have been looking to be associated with classical luxury brands from France or Italy. For example, Cathay Pacific also supplies passengers in First Class with pajamas designed for the airline by Chinese luxury fashion brand Shanghai Tang.

In Europe, meanwhile, an airline like KLM has made partnerships with Dutch designers and brands a cornerstone of its in-flight experience, while Finnair has just announced a partnership with iconic Finnish designers Marimekko for the design of new tableware and fabrics.

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