Cathay Cathay Cathay () is an alternative historical name for China in English. During the early modern period Europeans thought of "Cathay" as a completely separate and distinct culture from China. As knowledge of East Asia increased, Cathay came to be seen as the same nation as China and the term '"Cathay" became a poetic name for the nation. The name "Cathay" originates from the word Khitan (), the name of a nomadic people who founded the Liao Empire which ruled much of today's Northern China from 907 to 1125, and who later migrated west after they were overthrown by the
Cathay Dragon Oneworld alliance as an affiliated member on 1 November, which its parent is a founding member. In addition, they opened the first airline-branded arrival lounge, "The Arrival", at Hong Kong International Airport on 1 October 2008. The airline's ground handling services subsidiary, Hong Kong International Airport Services Ltd (HIAS), was merged with Hong Kong Airport Services Ltd (HAS) on 1 November 2008 and became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific on 1 December 2008. In January 2016, Cathay Pacific announced it was rebranding Dragonair as Cathay Dragon. The Cathay Dragon brand became active on 21 November 2016. The airline