Japan Air System (JAS) has agreed to acquire more Airbus A300-600Rs to replace its ageing A300B2/B4s. If the order is approved by the airline's board it will be the first passenger variant of the twinjet sold by Airbus in more than four years.
Industry sources in Japan say JAS executives have taken an internal decision to order more A300-600Rs and an announcement awaits airline board approval.
Deliveries are expected to begin next year and the aircraft are likely to be powered by Pratt & Whitney PW4000s. The deal covers around five aircraft, the sources say.
Airbus declines to comment while JAS only says that it is continuing to assess aircraft to replace the 17 A300B2 and B4 widebodies it uses on Japanese domestic routes.
Airbus A330s and Boeing 767s have also been considered and more widebody orders are likely as the replacement programme develops.
JAS' A300B2s and B4s are powered by General Electric CF6 engines while its 19 newer A300-600Rs are powered by PW4000s.
An A300-600R order for new aircraft from a passenger airline would come as a major boost for Airbus. While it has sold A300-600 freighters in sizeable numbers to UPS and FedEx Express, few passenger airlines have acquired the aircraft since the early 1990s. The last known passenger aircraft order was from China Airlines for one aircraft in mid 1997, just after Thai Airways International ordered five of the type. JAS' last A300 order was for two in 1996.
A JAS order would be a strategic boost for Airbus as it is aggressively seeking to expand its share of the Japanese airliner market.
Source: Flight International
