New Cathay Dragon embarks on first flight

New branding aimed at bringing Cathay and Dragonair closer together

Written by:Mark Elliott

Dragonair has launched the first flight bearing its new brand name, Cathay Dragon.

The first aircraft displaying the new Cathay Dragon livery took flight from Hong Kong this week, bound for Beijing. Earlier this year, Cathay Pacific announced that Dragonair would be rebranded as Cathay Dragon in an effort to bring the two sister airlines closer together.

The new livery has initially been launched on one of Dragonair’s Airbus A330-300 aircraft, and will now be gradually rolled out across the airline’s entire fleet. The paintwork reflects the new livery recently introduced on Cathay Pacific’s aircraft, including the “brushwing” emblem on the tail.

The launch of Cathay Dragon

“We are thrilled to witness the Cathay Dragon livery take off into the sky for the first time. Today marks the beginning of a series of exciting changes and offerings that the new Cathay Dragon brand is going to bring to our customers. This new livery visualises a new era of growth for Cathay Dragon,” said the airline’s CEO, Algernon Yau.

The rebranding is also an effort to bring the airline closer to the Chinese market, where it has a strong presence. Introducing the new concept in January 2016, Cathay Pacific’s CEO, Ivan Chu, said he wants to build on the success of Hong Kong as a “gateway to and from mainland China markets”.

“We are deeply proud of our heritage in Hong Kong and mainland China, and keeping this spirit is important. This will be reflected in Cathay Dragon’s approach to contemporary Chinese elements in its design philosophy,” the group said in a statement. “Cathay Dragon will continue to draw inspiration from the designs and tastes that represent modern Chinese creativity. The process encompasses both physical design as well as on-going refinement of service offerings as a whole,” it added.

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The rebranding of Dragonair will now continue over the coming months, and Cathay Pacific will launch a major international marketing campaign to promote the new Cathay Dragon brand.