Cathay Pacific is reportedly aiming to take over slightly more than half of the routes previously flown by the Cathay Dragon, with the remaining assigned to low-cost carrier HK Express.
However, some key routes can also be opened up to rival Hong Kong Airlines and newly-minted competitor Greater Bay Airlines, which plans to launch in mid-2021 with a fleet of Boeing 737 jets and helmed by former Cathay Dragon CEO and 40-year Cathay veteran Algernon Yau Ying-wah.
Cathay Dragon, previously Dragonair, operated as Cathay Pacific’s regional arm however was scrapped in October 2020 as a part of an in-depth cost-saving exercise aimed at making certain the parent airline’s survival because it weathers the global pandemic and “adapts to the new travel reality.”
“The fact is that in these tough times we should focus on a single world-leading premium travel brand in Cathay Pacific, complemented by a single low-cost leisure travel brand in HK Express,” Cathay Pacific Group Chairman Patrick Healy stated at the time.
Cathay Dragon’s network covered around 50 destinations across Asia, with around half of these being in mainland China.
Healy stated the group would seek regulatory approval from the Hong Kong Authorities “for a majority of Cathay Dragon’s routes to be operated by Cathay Pacific and HK Express”.
Some of these, such as Kuala Lumpur, have already been reassigned to Cathay Pacific.
In accordance with Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, Cathay Pacific has utilized for around 25 former Cathay Dragon routes with a heavy emphasis on the bigger cities in China: the list is said to incorporate Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Taipei, Penang, Tokyo, and Kolkata.
The South China Morning Post has previously reported that Hanoi, Fukuoka, and Kaohsiung may also come under Cathay’s wing.
With Cathay Pacific roping off locations that typically enjoy premium traffic, HK Express is said to have its eye on cities with a more price-sensitive and predominately leisure market, together with Guilin, Ningbo, Medan, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap plus several different locations in Japan.
Not like Cathay Pacific, HK Specific flies its single-aisle Airbus A320-series jets in an all-economy configuration.
Cathay Pacific declined to touch upon specifics of the Cathay Dragon community carve-up, only that the group would “proceed to strengthen our network and keep the international hub status of Hong Kong by harnessing Cathay Pacific’s strengths and unparalleled customer experience, whereas leveraging the potential of its low-cost service, HK Express.”
Cathay Pacific may also inherit the entire Cathay Dragon fleet, together with 16 factory-fresh Airbus A321neo jets sporting a new regional Business – class seat.
Two A321neo aircraft have already been delivered to Cathay Pacific, with 4 extra headed for the Hong Kong hangars in 2021 and 10 to follow in 2022 “and beyond,” the airlines says.
Cathay Pacific has yet to advise when the A321neos will take flight, and on which routes
