Dragonair to operate Additional Flights over Holiday Period

Dragonair plans to operate a total of 109 additional services, including charter flights, over the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays, a period that is traditionally the busiest of the year.

“The Lunar New Year comes just over one month after Christmas, so we have a very busy six weeks coming up, with business people heading home and leisure travellers off in search of either snow or sun,” said Chief Operating Officer Andy Tung.

“As a result we shall be operating a total of 109 extra flights over the period, with those services offering something for everyone: from snow and ice festivals to lush tropical islands with sandy beaches.”

Among the airline’s scheduled destinations, Taipei and Shanghai will see the biggest increases. Taipei will have 22 services added between January 20 and February 5 to cater to demand from Taiwanese business people in the Mainland returning home for the holidays. Shanghai will see five more flights operated between January 25 and February 5.

Extra services will also operate to Guilin, Changsha and Kota Kinabalu.

“We shall be using larger aircraft on most of our flights to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia and adding 16 services there between December 23 and February 5, for people in search of warmer climes,” said Mr. Tung. “We shall also be operating our annual service to Harbin, the home of the Ice-Snow Festival, as part of a twin-centre package with Dalian.”

The airline is planning a large number of charter flights over the holiday period as well.

“By far the biggest number of additional flights is agent-chartered services to Japan,” Mr Tung noted. “Destinations in Japan are always a popular choice at this time of year and now there is the added attraction of a good exchange rate for travellers.”

The airline will operate 15 flights to Miyazaki, the legendary home of the gods that created Japan, six to Hakodate, the third-largest city on Hokkaido, nine to Asahikawa, the gateway to Soun-kyo Gorge and the town of Furano, four to the sub-tropical island of Okinawa, three to Kushiro, renowned for its fauna and flora, and two each to the coastal city of Niigata, famous for its rice and sake, and Nagasaki, one of the first Japanese towns to open to foreigners, between December 20 and February 10.

“While most of the demand for the Japan services is expected to come from Hong Kong, some, such as Okinawa and Niigata, should see considerable interest from Japanese travellers keen to visit the attractions of our home town.”

Seven charter services will also be operated to Langkawi in Malaysia, while three are planned for Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor Wat jungle complex in Cambodia.

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