The Port of Seattle welcomed Cathay Pacific’s nonstop service to Hong Kong with their inaugural flight from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).

Coinciding with the airline’s 80th anniversary celebrations, the arriving Airbus A350 aircraft — wearing Cathay Pacific’s classic “lettuce leaf sandwich” livery — was welcomed with a ceremonious lion dance and ribbon cutting at the gate.

This marks the last pre-pandemic carrier to return to SEA and will kick-start several new international offerings from SEA this year, boosting such services to more than 60.