Cathay Pacific today announced that it will add further 27 aircraft to its fleet, with first delivery expected in 2013.
The airline has orderd 15 more Airbus A330-300s and 10 more Boeing 777-300ERs. It has also finished a deal with aircraft leasing company International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) to add two more Airbus A350-900s.
This latest orders come on top of the airline’s biggest-ever order, made in September last year, for 30 Airbus A350-900s to be delivered from 2016 to 2019 and six Boeing 777-300ERs to be delivered between 2013 to 2014. The latest order will enable the airline to replace older, less fuel-efficient aircraft as they are progressively retired from the fleet and at the same time continue with the expansion of its passenger network.
Cathay Pacific now has a total of 91 new aircraft on order for delivery between now and 2019.
CX Chief Executive Tony Tyler said: “Our plan is to retire our 21 Boeing 747-400 and 11 Airbus A340-300 aircraft before the end of the decade as we take delivery progressively of new generation aircraft that will provide much greater fuel and operating cost efficiencies. This is important both for environmental reasons and from a financial perspective as fuel remains our greatest single cost.”
The 15 new A330-300s will be delivered between 2013 and 2015 and will be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines. Cathay Pacific already operates the world’s biggest fleet of A330, which is primarily used on destinations in the Asia Pacific region.
With the newly ordered 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, Cathay Pacific will have a total of 46 Boeing 777. All the new Boeing aircraft will be powered by General Electric GE90 engines.
Source: Cathay Pacific