Oneworld managing partner, John McCulloch highlighted the advantages for members wishing to travel between China and other destinations: ”With Dragonair, Cathay Pacific and the Hong Kong hub, it means that oneworld will offer the best quality airline service for travel to or from the whole of China.”
The incorporation of Dragonair will add Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Phuket (Thailand), as well as 12 Chinese cities to the network.
”We are pleased that oneworld customers will be able to connect through Hong Kong to our extensive network of destinations in Mainland China, along with the other business and leisure destinations we serve within the Asia Pacific region,” added Dragonair CEO, Kenny Tang.
Dragonair will be the 11th carrier to oneworld this year, in the most significant expansion of the alliance since it began in 1998. Oneworld is the third largest worldwide airline group after Star Alliance and SkyTeam, serving more than 700 destinations in 150 countries.
Oneworld frequent flyers will be able to earn awards and receive all other benefits on Dragonair, with the full range of alliance fares available.
Hong Kong Dragon Airlines, operating as Dragonair, was established in 1985 and became a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific in 2006.
Dragonair is the second largest airline in Hong Kong, with routes throughout the Asia-Pacific region. The carrier operates over 400 flights a week to 19 destinations within mainland China.
The airline”s own original loyalty programme, The Elite, merged into Cathay Pacific's Marco Polo Club in January 2007. The airline is set to become an affiliate member of oneworld on 1 November 2007.