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Dragonair
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dragonair 港龍航空公司 |
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|---|---|---|
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| IATA KA |
ICAO HDA |
Callsign DRAGON |
| Founded | 1985 | |
| Hubs | Hong Kong International Airport | |
| Frequent flyer program | Asia Miles, The Marco Polo Club | |
| Member lounge | Dragonair Lounge | |
| Alliance | Oneworld | |
| Fleet size | 38 | |
| Destinations | 35 (incl. cargo) | |
| Parent company | Cathay Pacific Airways Limited | |
| Headquarters | Hong Kong | |
| Key people | K.P. Chao (Honorary chairman) Kenny Tang, CEO Francis Wai, CFO Olivia Lin, GM - Airline Planning and International Affairs |
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| Website: http://www.dragonair.com | ||
- For the Pokémon of the same name, see Dragonair.
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited, operating as Dragonair, (traditional Chinese: 港龍航空有限公司; pinyin: Gǎnglóng Hángkōng Yŏuxiàn Gōngsī) is an airline based in Hong Kong. It is a subsidiary of Hong-Kong's largest airline Cathay Pacific, and is itself the second-largest airline in Hong Kong[citation needed]. It operates a passenger network covering destinations across the Asia-Pacific region, including China and also operates a cargo network to Europe, the Middle East, Japan and China. Its main base is Hong Kong International Airport[1].
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The airline was established in May 1985 on the initiative of KP Chao, the airline's present honorary chairman, and started operations in July 1985 with a Boeing 737 service from Kai Tak International Airport to Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia. At the time, Dragonair was only a small player in the Asian skies, and the airline's name was Hong Kong Dragon Airlines. In 1986, the airline officially changed its name to Dragonair (although its Chinese name remained the same) and was granted licences to operate to eight cities in mainland China and a regular service to Phuket. In 1987, the airline began charter flights to mainland China. This was also the year that Dragonair became the first Hong Kong-based airline to join IATA.[citation needed]
In January 1990, Cathay Pacific and Swire Group acquired a 35% holding from the Chao family, while CITIC acquired a 38% share. The Chao family retained a 22% stake with the remainder held by minor shareholders[1]. It is at this time that Cathay Pacific transferred its routes to Beijing and Shanghai to Dragonair along with its TriStars. In 1993, Airbus A320 aircraft joined the fleet, followed by Airbus A330s in 1995. The arrival of these two types of aircraft quickly led to the aging TriStars from Cathay Pacific being phased out.[citation needed]
A further redistribution of shares took place in April 1996, when China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) purchased 35.86% of Dragonair and became the largest shareholder. The stake was further increased when CNAC was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 17 December 1997[1]. In 1998, Dragonair became the last airline to have a plane land at Kai Tak International Airport.[citation needed]
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, CNAC, CITIC Pacific and Swire Pacific. It will continue to operate as a separate airline within the Cathay Pacific group, maintaining its own air operators certificate and with the brand unchanged. It has 2,745 employees (at March 2007)[1].
Dragonair announced that its own loyalty programme, The Elite, would merge into that of Cathay Pacific's (The Marco Polo Club) from 1 January 2007. Current Elite members were offered similar membership by The Marco Polo Club.[2]
Dragonair joined the Oneworld alliance as an affiliate member on 1 November 2007 (parent airline Cathay Pacific is a full member of Oneworld).
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Dragonair codeshares with Air China on flights between Hong Kong and mainland China (particularly Beijing), Royal Brunei on flights between Hong Kong and Bandar Seri Begawan and China Southern Airlines between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Malaysian Airlines is another partner codesharing with Dragonair, on routes to Kota Kinabalu. The current sole shareholder of Dragonair, Cathay Pacific, has recently put on its 'CX 68--' code on Dragonair flights to Xiamen, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Phuket, Fukuoka, Sendai and Busan.
The Dragonair fleet consists of the following aircraft (at September 2007)[1] :
| Aircraft | In Operation (on order) |
Seat Configuration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A320-200 | 9 | J8/Y150(158) | |
| Airbus A321-200 | 6 | J24/Y148(172) | |
| Airbus A330-300 | 16 (1) | F12/J42/Y230(284) 30/270(300) J42/Y273 (315) |
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| Boeing 747-200F | 1 | Freighter | Bought from China Airlines, B747-209F |
| Boeing 747-300SF | 3 | Freighter | Bought from Malaysia Airlines (2) and Singapore Airlines (1) |
| Boeing 747-400F | 1 | Freighter | Wet leased from China Airlines |
| Boeing 747-400BCF | 2 (1) | Freighter | Bought from Singapore Airlines and converted into freighters at SIAEC |
Dragonair average fleet age is 7.3 years old in June 2006[3].
Dragonair's planes are mainly white, with a red dragon on the tail, and the name Dragonair written in English dark lettering under the front passenger windows, and in Chinese red lettering over the front passenger windows also. Recently, Dragonair introduced its first livery paint on A330, with the registration code of B-HWG. The paint portrays a Dragon Boat on sides of the aircraft. The Chinese and English word of Swire was begun to be placed under the registration code of tails of aircraft after Cathay Pacific became the sole shareholder of Dragonair.
- ^ a b c d e "Directory: World Airlines", Flight International, 2007-04-03, p. 74.
- ^ Dragonair Loyalty programme
- ^ Dragonair Fleet Age
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American Airlines • British Airways • Cathay Pacific • Finnair • Iberia Airlines • Japan Airlines • LAN • Malév Hungarian • Qantas • Royal Jordanian |
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Air Hong Kong • Cathay Pacific • Dragonair • Hong Kong Airlines • Hong Kong Express Airways • Oasis Hong Kong Airlines |
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