(HONG KONG) Dragonair today unveiled a special livery on one of its aircraft as part of the airline's celebrations to mark 25 years of serving Hong Kong.

Financial Secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government John Tsang officiated at the livery unveiling ceremony together with Dragonair's Chairman Tony Tyler, Civil Aviation Department Director-General Norman Lo, Director of Information Services Michael Wong and Chief Executive Officer James Tong. More than 200 guests including government officials, aviation and travel trade partners and local and overseas media were in attendance.

The spectacular design of the anniversary livery, created for an A330-300 aircraft, features a golden dragon along the length of the fuselage, together with distinctive Chinese characters highlighting the anniversary theme, "Serving you for 25 years". The distinctly oriental look reflects Dragonair's ongoing commitment to its home city, Hong Kong. The special-livery aircraft will primarily fly on the airline's trunk routes to Beijing and Shanghai.

Speaking at the unveiling ceremony, Dragonair Chairman Tony Tyler said: "This is a special time for Dragonair and we are delighted to be able to celebrate with this special anniversary livery. We are a young, dynamic airline that has already come a long way, and I believe we have a very exciting future ahead of us."

Since starting out in 1985 with just one Boeing 737-200A aircraft, Dragonair has developed to become one of the most recognised brands in Hong Kong with a fleet of 29 modern aircraft serving a network of 29 destinations in Mainland China and Asia.

"We are a high-flying brand that Hong Kong people can be proud of, and we were thrilled to recently be named World's Best Regional Airline in the prestigious Skytrax World Airline Awards for 2010. The award reflects well on both Dragonair and our home city - a most timely gift in our anniversary year." Mr Tyler added.

The aircraft featuring the unique 25th anniversary livery is also the first in the fleet to feature the updated Brand Hong Kong logo, launched recently by the HKSAR Government. The logo will eventually appear on all current and future aircraft in the airline's fleet, reinforcing Dragonair's continued commitment to its home city.

HKSAR Financial Secretary John Tsang congratulated Dragonair on the unveiling of the special livery and its success over the past 25 years. "For a quarter of a century, Dragonair has been a key component in our city's international reach, and is a perfect partner for our branding campaign. Dragonair shares many of the same values and attributes that make up the DNA of our city branding." Mr Tsang said.

"Dragonair is the friendly face of Hong Kong in the Mainland of China and throughout the region. The airline has become synonymous with the city, and we are delighted to have you on board for our branding campaign.

"I look forward to seeing more Dragonair planes adorned with the new logo so that we can continue to spread the message far and wide that Hong Kong is the place to be." Mr Tsang added.

Dragonair Chairman Tony Tyler (Fourth from left) was joined by John Tsang, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Financial Secretary (Fifth from left), Norman Lo, Civil Aviation Department Director-General (Third from left), Michael Wong, Director of Information Services (Second from right), John Slosar, Dragonair Director (Second from left) and James Tong, Dragonair Chief Executive Officer (Third from right) to unveil the 25th Anniversary Livery and wish Dragonair continued success.

The officiating guests with other guests and Dragonair's 25th Anniversary special livery

The Dragonair team together with the aircraft featuring the 25th Anniversary special livery

Dragonair, an affiliate member of oneworld, is a Hong Kong-based airline operating a fleet of 29 passenger aircraft and serving 29 regional destinations, including 17 cities in Mainland China. Dragonair has been recognised for its product and service quality, and was voted "World's Best Regional Airline" in the annual World Airline Survey run by Skytrax in 2010. Dragonair is part of the Cathay Pacific Group, providing seamless connectivity for passengers to more than 100 cities around the globe.

Note to editor: High-quality photos are available for download from www.dragonair.com, under About Dragonair / Media Centre.
Dragonair web site address: www.dragonair.com