Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
Hong Kong's two passenger airlines are on the verge of placing new aircraft orders as business picks up in the Asian market.
Industry sources say Cathay Pacific Airways is close to placing a new order for at least three Rolls-Royce Trent-powered Airbus A330-300s and is looking at leasing additional A340-300s. Dragonair, meanwhile, says it is close to leasing a single additional Airbus A321 next year and is looking at acquiring another two Airbus aircraft of unspecified type in 2001.
Cathay wants to begin taking delivery of its new A330s in the first half of 2001. The airline is also in discussion with Airbus and Boeing about acquiring either Airbus A340-500/600s or Boeing 777-200X/300X aircraft to operate ultra-long haul transpacific routes. All the indications are that they are going to make a decision in the first half of next year, says the source.
Cathay Pacific declines to comment on the impending orders. "We have nothing to announce", says the airline.
Dragonair is already due to take delivery of its sixth 156-seat Airbus A320 at the end of June. The all-Airbus carrier also operates two A321s, configured for 190 passengers, and five A330-300s, configured for 322 passengers.
According to airline general manager Felix Hart, Dragonair is also looking at plugging the size gap in its fleet between the A321 and the A330-300 with smaller variants of the A330. "Clearly, there are aircraft in that gap: there's the 250-seat A330-200, or we are talking about the [proposed] A330-100," says Hart.
The A330-100, known by its project name as A330M19, is a concept for a new aircraft in the 200-seat class to replace the Airbus A300/A310 family.
The proposal is a 19-frame shrink of the A330-300. Boeing types are not under consideration. "We are an Airbus carrier, and there's no reason to change our allegiance", says Hart.
Source: Flight International
