Cathay's head not at the top

Cathay Pacific managing director David Turnbull is going down in the world.

A fung shui master hired by the company advised that if the managing director's office was on the top floor of its new $4.9 billion headquarters, it would not receive optimum good fortune.

Instead, Mr Turnbull's office will be on the sixth floor of the 10-floor Cathay Pacific City complex at Chek Lap Kok, with distinctly less spectacular views of the airport and South China Sea.

The fung shui master also selected key dates in the building's construction, advised on colour and on creating a line of trees on one side.

The building, which was topped-out yesterday, includes a 500-room four-star staff hotel, a 25-metre swimming pool and enough carpet to cover 22 football fields.

Cathay Pacific chairman Peter Sutch denied any chance of further job losses at the airline which last month shed 760 staff, five per cent of its world workforce.