Cathay Pacific Orders Six Airbus A350-900s for Europe Flights
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (293), Asia’s third-largest carrier by market value, ordered six Airbus SAS A350-900s that will predominately be used on flights to Europe.
The planes cost $1.63 billion at list prices, the Hong Kong-based airline said in a stock exchange statement today. The carrier will pay a lower amount after getting concessions from the planemaker, it said without elaboration.
Cathay has already ordered 32 owned and leased A350s as it adds new long-haul planes to pare fuel costs and take advantage of rising demand for travel to and from Asia. Its passenger numbers rose about 3 percent last year to 27.6 million.
The A350-900 is due to enter operation in the first half of 2014, following two delays. Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, had orders for 555 A350s at the end of last year, including 368 for the -900 version. The A350s announced by Cathay today will be delivered in 2016 and 2017, according to the statement.
The airline has also ordered 46 of Boeing Co.’s long-range 777-300ERs since December 2005, according to data on the planemaker’s website.
To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Denslow in Hong Kong at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Neil Denslow at ndenslow@bloomberg.net
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