Cathay Pacific is a massive customer for Airbus. The airline operates most of its flights on Airbus metal. The only planes not to be produced by the European manufacturer are the Boeing 777-300s that operate many long-rage routes alongside the Airbus A350s of which it is one of the major users. However, the Hong Kong based airline is also a big A330-300 user and those planes are showing their age. Therefore, the airline has just announced a firm order with Airbus for 30 A330neo.
Cathay Pacific’s Airbus A330neo Order
If you would have expected such an announcement to come just a couple of weeks ago during the Farnborough air show you would be right to have done so. It is the kind of news that would have attracted more attention in a setting such as the UK air show. Nevertheless, Cathay Pacific ordered a substantial number of planes from Airbus primarily to renovate its fleet.
The order is firm for a total of 30 Airbus A330-900neo. The airline has opted for the larger version of the A330neo, as most other airlines have. Only a handful of carriers around the world have chosen to purchase the smaller A330-800neo, and Cathay isn’t going to be one of them.
The A330neo is quite a versatile plane for the Hong Kong based carrier. It allows to operate both shorter high-capacity routes along with long-range lower demand ones. The A330-900 has a range of up to 13,300km.
Replacing The Older A330-300s – Further Step Towards Fleet Renovation
Currently Cathay Pacific owns and operates a fleet of 37 A330-300, which is the old generation. This new aircraft order allows to almost completely replace those planes with the new generation of the same aircraft type. The fact that the planes are the same type is extremely important, as pilots won’t need to get a new type rating. They’ll just be able to hop over to the new aircraft once they arrive in Hong Kong.
The Airbus A330-300 fleet is currently primarily used for regional flights with high demand. Therefore, they have undergone a huge number of pressurization cycles and have seen enormous numbers of passengers. They are also the oldest part of the fleet with an average age of 14.7 (just a little older than the 777s). While it makes sense for the airline to refurbish the 777, which will get the new business class Aria suites operating on long range sectors, it makes less sense on a plane primarily used for short/medium-range flights.
It makes more sense to invest on new planes that will be also able to serve long-range destinations and build a bespoke cabin for these new planes.
No indication though on the cabin interiors, configuration, nor on the expected delivery dates of the planes.
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