Dragonair has announced that it will launch scheduled services to Fukuoka and Sendai in Japan on October 28, further strengthening ties between Hong Kong and Japan.

Flights to Fukuoka will operate daily and to Sendai three times a week, using Airbus A321 and Airbus A320 aircraft, respectively. Dragonair will be the only airline operating scheduled flights between Hong Kong and Sendai and the only airline to offer nonstop service to Fukuoka.

"We are delighted to introduce flights to these two popular Japanese destinations," said Chief Executive Officer Kenny Tang. "Part of our long-term strategy is to serve niche markets in Asia in addition to our core Mainland China market and we launched services to Phuket and Busan soon after our integration into the Cathay Pacific Group. Supported by Cathay Pacific's international network these two routes have been a big success and I am confident Fukuoka and Sendai will become equally popular destinations."

At the same time as adding the two new routes to its network, Dragonair will cease to operate its daily service to Tokyo to enable a better use of resources. Subject to government approval, Dragonair's sister airline Cathay Pacific will code-share on the new services to Fukuoka and Sendai and market the routes through its global network.