Cathay Pacific is celebrating its 80th anniversary by putting retro livery on two of its jetliners.

The two specially printed planes are a Boeing 747 freight jet and an Airbus A350 passenger plane, which will operate across different routes over the coming two to three years.

They feature the airline’s iconic green and white design from the 1980s and 1990s, fondly known as “Lettuce Leaf Sandwich”.

The A350's first flight with the livery will be to San Francisco on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 frontline workers, including airport staff and cabin crew, will also put on uniforms from different generations throughout 2026.

A general manager of Cathay, Edward Bell, said the livery pays tribute to the airline's heritage.

“What we call the 'Lettuce Leaf Sandwich' retro livery flew for nearly 20 years,” he said.

“So that perhaps is the most iconic one, other than our current design. So to pay tribute to the story to how we got to today, we felt that it was appropriate to use that particular design, which people love.”