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Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited (), also known as Cathay Dragon () and Dragonair, was a
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
-based international
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
. In the final year before it ceased flying, the airline operated a scheduled
passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...
network to around 50 destinations in 14 countries and
territories A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or an ...
across Asia. Additionally, the airline had three codeshares on routes served by partner airlines. It had an all
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
fleet of 35 aircraft, consisting of A320s, A321s, and A330s. Cathay Dragon was a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong's
flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...
,
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
, and was an affiliate member of the
Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
airline alliance. The airline was founded on 24 May 1985, by
Chao Kuang Piu Chao Kuang Piu SBS (; 24 November 1920 – 12 March 2021) was a Hong Kong-based Chinese industrialist, sometimes referred to as Hong Kong's "Wool Magnate" given his involvement in Hong Kong's garment industry. He was one of the co-founders of ...
, who was most recently the airline's honorary chairman. Its maiden flight departed Hong Kong for
Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
after being granted an
air operator's certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in pla ...
(AOC) by the
Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...
in July 1985. In 2010, Dragonair, together with its parent, Cathay Pacific, operated over 138,000 flights, carried nearly 27 million passengers and over 1.80 billion kg of cargo and mail.


History


Early beginning

The airline was established in Hong Kong on 24 May 1985 on the initiative of Kuang-Piu Chao, the airline's present honorary chairman, as a subsidiary of Hong Kong Macau International Investment Co. It started operations in July 1985 with a
Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...
-200 service from
Kai Tak International Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...
to
Kota Kinabalu International Airport Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) is an international airport in Kota Kinabalu, the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is located approximately southwest of the city centre. In 2017, 8 million passengers passed through the ai ...
in Malaysia, after receiving an
Air Operator's Certificate An air operator's certificate (AOC) is the approval granted by a civil aviation authority (CAA) to an aircraft operator to allow it to use aircraft for commercial purposes. This requires the operator to have personnel, assets, and system in pla ...
(AOC) from the
Hong Kong Government The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Hong Kong Government or HKSAR Government, refers to the Executive (government), executive authorities of Hong Kong Special administrative regions of China, ...
. The airline began services to
Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...
,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, as well as six secondary cities in
mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
on a regular charter basis in 1986. In 1987, the airline became the first Hong Kong-based airline to join as an active member of the
International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
(IATA). Dragonair was the first local competitor for Hong Kong's largest airline, Cathay Pacific, in forty years; and since the airline's inception, Cathay Pacific fought vigorously to block the airline's flight-slot applications. In January 1987, the airline announced its expansion by the order of two long-range
McDonnell Douglas MD-11 The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American tri-jet wide-body airliner manufactured by American McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later by Boeing. Following DC-10 development studies, the MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986. Assembly of t ...
aircraft. However, after a heated hearing before Hong Kong's Air Transport Licensing Authority, the Hong Kong Government adopted a one route-one airline policy, which lasted until 2001. The airline was not able to gain the scheduled routes it needed to compete effectively. The airline was disadvantaged in that Hong Kong's financial secretary back then, Sir John Bremridge, was a former
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
chairman. Stephen Miller, Dragonair's first CEO, said:
Our arrival on the scene was not hailed very enthusiastically by the then Hong Kong Government...we got a lot of opposition from Cathay (Pacific).
It was later discovered that Cathay Pacific was concentrating on a boom in travel elsewhere in the 1980s, and left the undeveloped mainland China market to Dragonair. Forced into accepting less-desirable routes, the young airline focused on the mainland.


1990s

In January 1990, Cathay Pacific,
Swire Group Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia ...
and
CITIC Pacific CITIC Limited () is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. Its shares are listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. 58% of its issued shares are owned by the Chinese state-own ...
acquired an 89 per cent stake in the airline, with CITIC Pacific holding 38 per cent; while the family of the airline's chairman Kuang-Piu Chao reduced their holding from 22 per cent to 6 per cent, with the remainder held by minor
shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
s. The change of ownership saw
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
transferring its
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
routes to Dragonair, along with a
Lockheed L-1011 TriStar The Lockheed L-1011 TriStar, also known as the L-1011 (pronounced "El-ten-eleven") and TriStar, is an American medium-to-long-range, wide-body trijet airliner built by the Lockheed Corporation. It was the third wide-body airliner to enter comme ...
on a lease basis. The first
Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...
joined the airline's fleet in March 1993 and by December, there was a total of six A320 aircraft. This was followed by the introduction of the
Airbus A330 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A340 ...
into the Dragonair's fleet in July 1995. A further redistribution of shares took place in April 1996, when
China National Aviation Corporation The China National Aviation Corporation () was a Chinese airline which was nationalized after the Chinese Communist Party took control in 1949, and merged into the People's Aviation Company of China () in 1952. It was a major airline under the ...
purchased 35.86 per cent of Dragonair and became the largest shareholder, with Cathay Pacific and Swire retaining 25.50 per cent, CITIC Pacific retaining 28.50 per cent and the Chao family retaining 5.02 per cent. CNAC's holding was further increased to 43 per cent when it was listed on the
Hong Kong Stock Exchange The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK, also known as Hong Kong Stock Exchange) is a stock exchange based in Hong Kong. As of the end of 2020, it has 2,538 listed companies with a combined market capitalization of HK$47 trillion. It is repor ...
on 17 December 1997. On 5 July 1998, Dragonair Flight 841 from
Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...
was the last scheduled arrival at
Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...
, landed runway 13 at 15:38
GMT Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being calculated from noon; as a cons ...
(23:38 Hong Kong time).


Operational expansion

In 2000, the airline commenced an all-cargo service to
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
using a leased
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
-200 freighter and a service to
Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
was added in May 2001. The airline purchased two
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
-300 freighters in 2001 and extended freight operations to
Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
and
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
in 2002. The airline's net profits rose 60 per cent to
HK$ The Hong Kong dollar (, sign: HK$; code: HKD) is the official currency of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is subdivided into 100 cents or 1000 mils. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority is the monetary authority of Hong Kong and ...
540 million in 2002, with cargo operations accounting for 30 per cent of revenues; and freight volume increasing nearly 50 per cent to 20,095
tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000  kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...
s. All regular flights were converted to scheduled services in March 2000, with passenger service to
Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...
,
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
commenced in July 2002, November 2003 and April 2004, respectively. Dragonair Cargo continued to see steady growth and the airline began a Hong Kong–Shanghai freight route on behalf of
DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. DHL ...
in June 2003 and leased an
Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. West G ...
freighter to start a cargo service to
Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
in June 2004. A second daily European loop to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
and London, in addition to
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, followed and by mid-2004 the airline had five
Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...
freighters and 26
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
passenger aircraft. In a bitter Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) hearings in 2004, Cathay Pacific applied to fly to three mainland cities to which Dragonair filed an objection, saying the move would have an effect on its very survival. A new passenger service to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
was scheduled to open in the second half of 2005, along with
Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
and
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
as the other anticipated destinations. The airline also planned services to the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
in 2005, at first with cargo flights. It was the airline's intention to more than double its freighter fleet to nine Boeing 747s by 2008.


Cathay Pacific takeover

By 2005,
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
owned 18 per cent of the airline, with its parent, Swire Pacific owned 7.71 per cent; China National Aviation Holding owned 43 per cent and
CITIC Pacific CITIC Limited () is a conglomerate headquartered in Hong Kong. Its shares are listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and it is a constituent of the Hang Seng Index. 58% of its issued shares are owned by the Chinese state-own ...
owned 28.5 per cent.
South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
reported that Swire Pacific was in advanced negotiations that would see Cathay Pacific taking over Dragonair. This was dismissed outright by Tony Tyler, then chief operating officer of Cathay Pacific who said "We have no plans to change that structure right now... we are happy with the structure of the shareholding in Dragonair at the moment. " Peter Hilton, transport analyst at CSFB, said Tyler's remarks were a "cut and dried" dismissal of the takeover talk. On 28 September 2006, Dragonair became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific after completion of a major shareholding realignment involving Cathay Pacific,
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
,
China National Aviation Corporation The China National Aviation Corporation () was a Chinese airline which was nationalized after the Chinese Communist Party took control in 1949, and merged into the People's Aviation Company of China () in 1952. It was a major airline under the ...
Group, CITIC Pacific and Swire Pacific. Cathay Pacific claimed that Dragonair would continue to operate as a separate airline within the Cathay Pacific group, maintaining its own Air Operator's Certificate and with the brand unchanged, with 2,976 employees worldwide. However, the airline would be downsized with five percent of the airline staff retrenched or transferred into Cathay Pacific. No Cathay Pacific staff were to be affected by this announcement. By 2009, services to
Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, and the expansion plans to introduce services to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
and the United States, had been cancelled and terminated. In addition, the planned nine-aircraft freight operation had also been eliminated, with three Boeing 747-400BCF freighters transferred to its parent fleet and the remaining two parked at
Southern California Logistics Airport Southern California Logistics Airport , also known as Victorville Airport, is a public airport located in the city of Victorville in San Bernardino County, California, approximately north of San Bernardino. Prior to its civil usage, the facili ...
in
Victorville, California Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...
. On 7 June 2010, Dragonair received its first second-hand
Airbus A330-300 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A34 ...
from Cathay Pacific to replace their leased A330s.


Service integration with Cathay Pacific

Dragonair's own loyalty program, ''The Elite'', that was launched on 12 February 2001, was merged into Cathay Pacific's The Marco Polo Club from 1 January 2007. Existing Elite members were offered similar membership by The Marco Polo Club. On 1 August 2007, the airline opened a joint regional office with Cathay Pacific in Beijing, that featured a dedicated area for the airline and its parent, and joined the
Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
alliance as an affiliated member on 1 November, of which its parent is a founding member. In addition, they opened the first airline-branded arrival lounge, ''The Arrival'', at
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
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.


Demise

On 21 October 2020, it was announced by Cathay Pacific that as part of the restructuring due to the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Cathay Dragon would cease operations with immediate effect. Almost every cabin crew and pilots, along with the vast majority of the staff at the regional subsidiary were laid off.


Destinations

Before ceasing operations, the airline operated its own aircraft to 47 destinations including 22 destinations in mainland China from its home base Hong Kong.


Codeshare agreements

Cathay Dragon had
codeshare agreement A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...
s with the following partner airlines: *
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada by the size and passengers carried. Air Canada maintains its headquarters in the borough of Saint-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and ...
*
Air China Air China Limited () is the flag carrier of the People's Republic of China and one of the "Big Three" mainland Chinese airlines (alongside China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines). Air China's headquarters are in Shunyi District, ...
*
American Airlines American Airlines is a major airlines of the United States, major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the world when measured ...
*
Bangkok Airways Bangkok Airways Public Company Limited ( th, บางกอกแอร์เวย์ส) is a regional airline based in Bangkok, Thailand. It operates scheduled services to destinations in Thailand, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Laos, ...
*
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
*
Finnair Finnair ( fi, Finnair Oyj, sv, Finnair Abp) is the flag carrier and largest airline of Finland, with its headquarters in Vantaa on the grounds of Helsinki Airport, its hub. Finnair and its subsidiaries dominate both domestic and internationa ...
*
Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB; ms, Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad), formerly known as Malaysian Airline System (MAS; ), and branded as Malaysia Airlines, is the flag carrier airline of Malaysia and a member of the Oneworld airline alliance. (The ...
*
Qantas Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
*
S7 Airlines S7 Airlines, legally JSC Siberia Airlines (russian: АО «Авиакомпания "Сибирь"», "АО Aviakompania Sibir"), is an airline headquartered in Ob, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia, with offices in Moscow. As of 2008, it was Russia's ...
*
Shenzhen Airlines Shenzhen Airlines () is an airline headquartered in Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong. It has been a member of Star Alliance since 2012, and is currently one of two Chinese airlines that is part of ...


Final Fleet


Pre-merger fleet

Cathay Dragon operated an all–
Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
fleet in a mix of
single-aisle A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than in width. In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with mu ...
and twin-aisle aircraft. The fleet consisted of the following aircraft prior to folding into
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
:


Former fleet


Livery

The airline's original livery consists of a thick red-coloured horizontal strip along a white-coloured fuselage with a red-coloured
vertical stabiliser A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...
. The airline's traditional Chinese and English name and its logo are in gold colour and are painted on the forward fuselage above the red horizontal strip and on the vertical stabiliser, respectively. The previous livery is in white colour with a red dragon on the
cowling A cowling is the removable covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles, motorcycles, airplanes, and on outboard boat motors. On airplanes, cowlings are used to reduce drag and to cool the engine. On boats, cowlings are a cove ...
and on the vertical stabiliser; and the airline's name written in Chinese red lettering and in English black lettering above and below the front passenger windows, respectively. In addition, there is a 30 cm
Oneworld Oneworld (stylised as oneworld; Computer reservations system, CRS: *O) is an airline alliance founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance for the world's frequent international traveller ...
logo next to the first left door and a
Swire Group Swire Group () is a Hong Kong- and London-based British conglomerate. Many of its core businesses can be found within the Asia Pacific region, where traditionally Swire's operations have centred on Hong Kong and mainland China. Within Asia ...
logo on the aft of the aircraft. On 5 May 2005, Dragonair celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a new Airbus A330-300 (B-HWG) painted in a special livery. The work of art took 14 months to create, from design tender to completed image. The special livery featured a waterside view with a junk and fishes leaping out of the water at the front of the aircraft; a red dragon spread across the
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
in the daylight; and children playing with traditional Chinese lanterns by the waterside of an ancient village on the left side of the aircraft, representing the past. It also featured a waterside view with a
Star Ferry The Star Ferry is a passenger ferry service operator and tourist attraction in Hong Kong. Its principal routes carry passengers across Victoria Harbour, between Hong Kong Island, and Kowloon. The service is operated by the Star Ferry Com ...
at front of the aircraft; and a red dragon spread across the fuselage in the Hong Kong night sky, representing the present. Stanley Hui, Dragonair's CEO at the time, described the special livery "embodies the spirit of the Chinese dragons of old – a spirit that aspires to excellence". The aircraft was removed from service in February 2013, at the expiration of its lease. On 1 June 2010, Dragonair celebrated its 25th Anniversary, with a special livery painted on an Airbus A330-300 (B-HYF). The livery also bears the slogan, "Serving you for 25 years" on the right side on the aircraft, and its Chinese slogan is on the left side of the aircraft. It also has a golden dragon spreading across the fuselage along with several grey Chinese letters on it. It was repainted to the standard livery in March 2014. In 2016, Cathay Pacific, Dragonair's parent company, announced that they would be re-branding Dragonair to Cathay Dragon. It now uses the logo of its parent company, using light maroon color. For this change, a new hybrid livery has been adopted. The new livery is similar to Cathay Pacific's new livery in the tail logo and font. The major difference is instead of the Cathay Pacific green theme, it has a light maroon theme. The titles reads "Cathay Dragon" along with Chinese lettering reading the name. The airline's previous logo has been retained and appears next to the cockpit windows. The new livery first appeared on an
Airbus A330-300 The Airbus A330 is a wide-body aircraft developed and produced by Airbus. Airbus conceived several derivatives of the A300, its first airliner in the mid-1970s. Then the company began development on the A330 twinjet in parallel with the A34 ...
(B-HYQ). On 1 June 2017, In the celebration of the 20th year of independence in Hong Kong, Cathay Dragon received its special ''The Spirit of Hong Kong'' livery. It is painted on an Airbus A330-300 (B-HYB), and it is the sister aircraft to
Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited (CPA), more widely known as Cathay Pacific (), is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and subsidiaries have sc ...
's
Boeing 777-300 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the world's largest twinjet. The 777 was designed to bridge the gap betw ...
(B-HNK), and was retired on 24 September 2020, after its last flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong as KA877.


Loyalty programmes

Cathay Dragon shared two loyalty programmes with its parent company, Cathay Pacific: The Marco Polo Club (The Club), a loyalty programme, and
Asia Miles Asia Miles is a loyalty and frequent-flyer program launched by Cathay Pacific. Launched in February 1999, it allows members to earn miles by making different purchases with co-branded credit cards or on partnered flights, hotels, dining, finan ...
, a travel reward programme. Members of The Club are automatically enrolled as Asia Miles members.


Services

Food and beverages served on flights from Hong Kong are provided by LSG Lufthansa Services Hong Kong Ltd, a Cathay Dragon associate. A variety of regional dishes, such as
dim sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cuis ...
, Fokkien fried rice, barbecue pork with fried rice and chicken with Thai sweet chilli, is served on flights into
mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...
. However, only beverages and pastries will be served in
Economy Class Economy class, also called third class, coach class, steerage, or to distinguish it from the slightly more expensive premium economy class, standard economy class or budget economy class, is the lowest travel class of seating in air travel, rail ...
for flights between Hong Kong and
Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...
,
Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...
,
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
,
Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the Ha ...
and
Sanya Sanya (; also spelled Samah) is the southernmost city on Hainan Island, and one of the four prefecture-level cities of Hainan Province in South China. According to the 2020 census, the total population of Sanya was 1,031,396 inhabitants, li ...
. In addition, the airline provides a range different newspapers and magazines from around the world, including the airline's in-flight magazine ''Emporium''. Beginning in March 2013, the majority of the airline's fleet is retrofitted with new Business and Economy Class seats. The seats are nearly identical to the new Regional Business Class and new Long-haul Economy Class products offered by parent company Cathay Pacific. The new design features a Cathay Pacific-like ambience infused with traditional Chinese art designs. Seats in both classes will be fitted with StudioKA (a rebranded version of the StudioCX inflight entertainment system on board Cathay Pacific aircraft), which features a 12.1-inch (Business Class) or 9-inch (Economy Class) touchscreen display, a multipurpose controller Audio/Video on Demand (AVOD), support for
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
devices, and a USB port for connectivity to other devices. Worldwide in-seat power outlets will be available to all passengers. The new Business Class features a 21-inch wide recliner seat with 45 inches (narrowbody aircraft) or 47 inches (widebody aircraft) of pitch, while the new Economy Class will be 18.1 inches wide with 30 inches (narrowbody aircraft) or 32 inches (widebody aircraft) of pitch. The retrofitting process is completed by the end of 2014.


Awards


Subsidiaries and associates

Since its founding in 1985, the airline has been investing into airline-related servicing companies, including inflight catering, ground handling and service equipment companies. The following are Cathay Dragon's major subsidiaries and associates: () *LSG Lufthansa Service Hong Kong Ltd – 31.94% owned *Dah-Chong Hong-Dragonair Airport GSE Service Ltd (DAS) – 30% *HAS GSE Solutions Ltd – 30%


Hong Kong Airport Services Ltd

Hong Kong Airport Services Hong Kong Airport Services Limited (HAS) was founded in 1995 and began operations in July 1998 with the opening of Chek Lap Kok International Airport. It employs around 3,100 people and owns a fleet of over 3,000 ground-support equipment and veh ...
Ltd (HAS), a former wholly owned subsidiary, provides
ground handling services In aviation, aircraft ground handling defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and (usually) parked at a terminal gate of an airport. Overview Many airlines subcontract ground handling to airports, handling agents or ...
to the airline at
Hong Kong International Airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...
. Their services include
airside An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
/
landside An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
operations,
airport lounge An airport lounge is a facility operated at many airports. Airport lounges offer, for selected passengers, comforts beyond those afforded in the airport terminal itself, such as more comfortable seating, quieter environments, and often better acc ...
, baggage services, cargo services,
ramp An inclined plane, also known as a ramp, is a flat supporting surface tilted at an angle from the vertical direction, with one end higher than the other, used as an aid for raising or lowering a load. The inclined plane is one of the six clas ...
services, ticketing & Information, station control and flight operations. On 1 November 2008, HIAS was integrated into Hong Kong Airport Services Ltd (HAS), a joint venture between Dragonair and Cathay Pacific, to become one of the Asia's largest airport services providers. On 1 December 2008, HAS became a wholly owned subsidiary of Cathay Pacific.


See also

*
List of airlines of Hong Kong This is a list of airlines which have a current Air Operator's Certificate issued by the Hong Kong Director-General of Civil Aviation ( Traditional ), and for which oversight as recognised by the ICAO lies with the Civil Aviation Department. For ...
* List of airports in Hong Kong *
List of companies of Hong Kong Hong Kong is an autonomous territory of the People's Republic of China on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consisten ...
*
Transport in Hong Kong Hong Kong has a highly developed and sophisticated transport network, encompassing both public and private transport. Based on Hong Kong Government's Travel Characteristics Survey, over 90% of the daily journeys are on public transport, the h ...


References


External links

*
Cathay Pacific

Swire GroupHong Kong Airport Services
{{good article Airlines established in 1985 Airlines disestablished in 2020 1985 establishments in Hong Kong 2020 disestablishments in Hong Kong Airlines of Hong Kong Association of Asia Pacific Airlines Cathay Pacific Hong Kong brands Former Oneworld affiliate members Swire Group