Dragonair is spending hundreds of millions of dollars revamping its business and economy class cabins as it expands its fleet, recruits extra cabin and flight crew, and adds new destinations.
Chief executive Patrick Yeung Wai-tim declined to specify how much the revamp is costing, saying the figure was commercially sensitive. But he said it would "definitely be much higher" than the HK$195 million programme Dragonair launched in 2003 to upgrade its cabins.
Part of the reason for the cost increase was because Dragonair's passenger fleet has almost doubled, from 21 aircraft in early 2003 to 38 at present.
Yeung said the previous economy class makeover was made during that 2003 drive, while the last business class upgrade was done in 2005.
The first aircraft with the new cabins will be an Airbus A330 that will start flying in March, while the whole revamp will be completed by the end of 2014. The new features include wider business class seats that will have up to an extra three inches of pitch, with separate seat and leg-rest reclining functions, as well as wider economy class seating.
A video-on-demand inflight entertainment system, similar to that on parent Cathay Pacific, will be installed, with ports for iPhones, iPads and USBs in both classes, while a new cabin crew uniform, the first for 12 years, will be introduced.