![]() ![]() This was followed by the introduction of the Airbus A330 into the Dragonair's fleet in July 1995. The first Airbus A320 joined the airline's fleet in March 1993 and by December, there was a total of six A320 aircraft. The change of ownership saw Cathay Pacific transferring its Beijing and Shanghai routes to Dragonair, along with a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar on a lease basis. In January 1990, Cathay Pacific, Swire Group and CITIC Pacific acquired an 89 percent stake in the airline, with CITIC Pacific holding 38 percent while the family of the airline's chairman, Kuang-Piu Chao, reduced their holding from 22 percent to 6 percent, with the remainder held by minor shareholders. Forced into accepting less-desirable routes, the young airline focused on the mainland. It was later discovered that Cathay Pacific was concentrating on a boom in travel elsewhere in the 1980s and had left the undeveloped mainland China market to Dragonair. 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). Stephen Miller, Dragonair's first CEO, said: The airline was disadvantaged in that Hong Kong's financial secretary back then, Sir John Bremridge, was a former Cathay Pacific chairman. The airline was not able to gain the scheduled routes it needed to compete effectively. 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. ![]() In January 1987, the airline announced its expansion with the order of two long-range McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft. In 1987, the airline became the first Hong Kong-based airline to join as an active member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).ĭragonair was the first local competitor for Hong Kong's largest airline, Cathay Pacific, in forty years and since the airline's inception, Cathay Pacific has fought vigorously to block the airline's flight-slot applications. The airline began services to Phuket, Thailand, as well as six secondary cities in mainland China on a regular charter basis in 1986. It started operations in July 1985 with a Boeing 737-200 service from Kai Tak International Airport to Kota Kinabalu International Airport in Malaysia, after receiving an Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) from the Hong Kong Government. The airline was established in Hong Kong on, on the initiative of Kuang-Piu Chao, the airline's present honorary chairman, as a subsidiary of Hong Kong Macau International Investment Co. ![]() History A Dragonair Airbus A330-300 in the 1992-2016 livery A Dragonair Airbus A320-200 taxiing Early beginning Cathay Dragon House, the head office at Hong Kong International Airport 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 (4.0 billion pounds) of cargo and mail. Its maiden flight departed Hong Kong for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia, after being granted an air operator's certificate (AOC) by the Hong Kong Government in July 1985. The airline was founded on, by Chao Kuang Piu, who was most recently the airline's honorary chairman. It had an all- Airbus fleet of 35 aircraft, consisting of A320s, A321s, and A330s.Ĭathay Dragon was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong's flag carrier, Cathay Pacific, and was an affiliate member of the Oneworld airline alliance. Additionally, the airline had three codeshares on routes served by partner airlines. ![]() In the final year before it ceased flying, the airline operated a scheduled passenger network to around 50 destinations in 14 countries and territories across Asia. Hong Kong Dragon Airlines Limited ( Chinese: 港龍航空公司), also known as Cathay Dragon ( 國泰港龍航空) and until 2016, Dragonair, was a Hong Kong-based international regional airline, with its corporate headquarters and main hub at Hong Kong International Airport. Kuo 2-tʻai 4 Kang 3-lung 2 Hang 2-kʻung 1 ![]()
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