Dragonair gets inflight WiFi entertainment, iPads in business class
By David Flynn, January 2 2015
Cathay Pacific's regional arm Dragonair will soon be flying the first of its upgraded Airbus A320 jets with new business class and economy seating along with streaming WiFi entertainment.
The first three of Dragonair's 15 A320s will enter service "in early 2015, and the fourth will be ready by mid-2015", the airline says.
While the business (above) and economy seats will be the same as Dragonair's Airbus A321 and A330 jets, the wireless inflight system is completely new to the airline and will allow travellers to enjoy video and music from the StudioKA library on their own smartphones, tablets and laptops.
Business class travellers will be offered an Apple iPad to use during the flight.
While economy is a fully BYO proposition, Dragonair says the seats will feature two integrated tablet holders "located on the seat back and on the meal table."
The StudioKA WiFi system will be progressively fitted to other aircrafts types in the Dragonair fleet, although it's not on the slate for parent airline Cathay Pacific.
"We have no plan to roll out the same WiFi streaming solution to Cathay Pacific at the moment" a spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific told Australian Business Traveller.
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David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
05 Apr 2012
Total posts 57
Interesting option for intra Asian sectors. I have usualy 'avioded' Dragon preferring CX mainline.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
09 Sep 2013
Total posts 187
Self and wife who is a Platinum FF have used Dragonnair a number of times for shorter internal flights within China and rate them as good as their big brother CP. Due to the wife's status, we invariably have a seat blocked out next to us, and on one occasion when we wished the check-in staff a happy National Day, we arrived at boarding to find we had been upgraded to business - a short flight only but very well received. Recommend to all.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
20 Mar 2012
Total posts 233
This seems like an appropriate offering onsidering this will be used on their shortest sectors. I know the A330 and A321 have the seatback screens which i noticed pass. commenting on during my last trip. Comparing their IFE offerings to say SilkAir it looks well-thought out and more than suitable! Good to see them getting up on there with CX's services
22 May 2015
Total posts 27
I've recently travelled from Hong Kong to Zhengzhou on the new A320 (which was a complete surprise). And I found the plane much more comfortable and the Stream system very easy to use. A very enjoyable flight. Sadly the surprise didn't last long, on the way back, we had the older plane, and I was pretty much bored on the flight back.
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