Roy Farrell

Roy Clinton Farrell (19 June 1912 – 3 January 1996) was the American co-founder of Cathay Pacific Airways along with the Australian Sydney de Kantzow.

Farrell was born in Vernon, Texas. He went to China during World War II, and eventually started an export business (Roy Farrell Import-Export Company) in Hong Kong.

Farrell joined the China National Aviation Company (CNAC) in 1943 and flew in Burma to supply the war effort. He left CNAC to establish Cathay Pacific with Sydney de Kantzow. Both Farrell and de Kantzow were ex-CNAC pilots who had flown "The Hump", a route over the Himalayan Mountains.

Before forming Cathay Pacific, Farrell attempted to purchase a ship to take advantage of what he rightly perceived to be an opening market in China to goods previously unavailable to it before the war. He was unable to locate any ship for purchase and instead bought a C-47 airplane (the military version of the similar DC-3 airplane). This airplane was named "Betsy". He, along with the crew he assembled, flew the plane from New Jersey through South America, Africa, India and China, eventually ending the trip in Shanghai, and established the Roy Farrell Import Export Company.

His company subsequently purchased another C-47 and this plane was named "Niki". Betsy is permanently on display at the Hong Kong Science Museum; the fate of the original Niki is unknown. A plane painted to resemble Niki is on display at Cathay Pacific's offices at Chek Lap Kok in Hong Kong.

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