Enter the Dragonair Pt1: Finding a Niche

Dragonair has had a topsy turvy existence. Originally a direct competitor to its Hong Kong neighbour Cathay Pacific, after pitched battles it was taken over by them only for it to exhibit renewed independence after Cathay reduced its investment. Despite this seeming turmoil the airline grew throughout the 1990s with brand new Airbus equipment and found itself an untapped niche in which to excel.

Dragonair was formed as the first Hong Kong based competition to Cathay Pacific and began operations in July 1985. Cathay fought hard to thwart its ambitions and was largely successful in doing so after the Cathay influenced Hong Kong government introduced a one route / one airline policy shutting out Dragon from the international markets it wanted. With Cathay concentrating on other routes Dragonair was at least able to expand its mainland China operations and the fleet grew to six 737-200s. No longer a direct competitive force Cathay nonetheless made sure it would never be one when in January 1990 itself, its parent SWIRE Group and CITIC Pacific acquired an 89% stake in the airline.

Dragonair's new owners did enable route expansion and fleet growth. CX transferred its Beijing and Shanghai routes as well as a L-1011 Tristar to operate them. In March 1993 the airline’s first A320 arrived and by December the airline had six of the type. The A320s also introduced a new euro-white scheme with an attractive red version of the original golden dragon logo.

The Tristar was merely a stopgap and unsurprisingly it choice for a new widebody was in agreement with its primary shareholder Cathay. In 1995 the airline was one of the first to accept the new A330 – taking its first aircraft, VR-HYA, on May 22. She was followed by HYB-C before the year was out and then HYD and E in 1997. HYF arrived in 1998 and the first series 343X, HYG, in 2001. Further Airbus A320s were also added. B-HSG first flew in March 1998 as F-WWIG and was leased out to TransAsia Airways as B-22315 from June 1999 to March 2001. Returned to Dragonair she is still part of their fleet.

In April 1996 Cathay Pacific reduced its ownership to 25.5% when China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC) purchased 35.86%. CNAC's stake was increased following listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. It was perhaps symbolic of new beginnings that in 1997 a Dragonair flight was the last to operate into the old Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. With a new ownership structure Dragonair was able to gradually begin to exhibit some greater independence from Cathay and this would increase following the repeal of the one airline / one route policy in 2001. In part 2 we'll look at Dragonair in the 2000s.

All timetable images are from the collection of David Zekria at the excellent www.timetableimages.com