Dragonair unveils new business and economy class seats

Dragonair has today unveiled new seats for both business and economy classes, as well as an upgraded inflight entertainment system, StudioKA, with touchscreen technology – the biggest product enhancement initiative by the airline since 2005.

The new business seat is almost identical to the new regional business class seat revealed by sister airline Cathay Pacific last September (see story here), which offers more recline (see chart below) and extended legrest – although when I tried the seat, my feet were dangling when I was in fully reclined "lazy-Z" position (I am 183 cm). Other useful new features include extra personal storage space on one side, which is also where the inflight magazine is found, an extendable cocktail table and a 12.1-inch personal TV with touchscreen technology. But a traditional wired remote control handset is still available. There is a USB port as well as an iPhone/iPod/iPad connector that allows passengers to view content from their own gadgets on the TV, and further out there is a small compartment suitable for storing a mobile phone. Each seat has a universal socket in front of the armrest. The retractable tray table, which is stowed in the back of the seat in front of the passenger, is very sturdy and large enough for any laptop model.

Dragonair chief executive Patrick Yeung demonstrating the new business class seat

Compared to the old business class seat, the product offers each passenger additional two to three inches in seat pitch, which results in the A330 aircraft having three fewer C class seats, although the A320 will not be affected.

The new economy seat (pictured below) offers what the airline calls "a cradle mechanism" that intends to enhance comfort in the reclined position, and each offers a 9-inch touchscreen personal TV as well as the same USB outlet and Apple product connector. There is an extra storage space right under the TV, which is ideal for mobile handsets, glasses or other small items. One of the rather strange features is the drink holder, which has been moved to the centre of the tray table. It gets in the way if you want to take something out of the magazine pocket, or cross your legs. According to a spokesperson from the airline, the design is to convenience both left-handed and right-handed passengers. Its redeeming feature, however, is the swiveling inner ring which helps keep the cup stable during turbulences.

But the biggest improvement has to be the IFE. The upgrade has made it on a par with that on Cathay's regional aircraft, and passengers can now choose from 100 movies, more than 500 TV programmes, 888 music CDs, 22 radio channels, and programmes in nine languages.

The new seats will debut in March on a wide-body A330, together with new inflight meal service ware for both cabins. The launch comes hand in hand with the airline's ongoing network expansion.

“With the addition of Zhengzhou and Yangon this month, the 11th and 12th new or resumed destinations since early last year - Wenzhou in the Mainland and Da Nang in Vietnam - will be launched tomorrow and on 28 March,” said Mr Yeung. “Dragonair continues to keep a close eye on China and the Southeast Asian region, two areas of high potential and dynamic traffic flow."

Wenzhou will be the airline's 22 destinations in Mainland China. But two of the new routes that have been showing best performances are Jeju and Chiangmai, which Dragonair currently has monopolies of in Hong Kong.

“Dragonair grew at an unprecedented pace last year. We launched or resumed eight destinations, expanded our fleet with six aircraft and broke our previous record of passengers carried in a year. For any airline, having three new routes in a year would already have been a big deal."

When asked whether or not Dragonair will follow the global trend of phasing out first class to make more room for business class, Yeung said the airline will wait to see how the new products are received before considering further changes to aircraft cabins.

March will also be the month when Dragonair's Danang service commences (see story here), and by then the carrier's network will be increased to 44 destinations.

How the new compares with the old:

Visit www.dragonair.com

Reggie Ho