Hey All
According to the "preparing for your Cathay Pacific Interview" Book, and from personal experience; not everyone that applied will be offered an initial interview. Your application will first be screened by a computer, and then by a HR personnel. If he/she is satisfied with your application, they will offer an initial interview. I do believe that there's a "lucky draw" system to it as well, but that's just a rumour that I found on this forum.
I'm not 100% certain of this, but I've heard from staff in CX that they received over 18,000 applications in 2010-2011, and only ~2,000 were offered an initial interview with CX. (in hong Kong and abroad)
Average wait time to get offered an initial interview is 8 months. However this varies as well. It's CX
Good luck to you all! I hope it helped.