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Cathay Pacific Airways will wait at least another two years before ordering any of the new wide-body planes offered by Boeing and Airbus, despite the promise of cutting fuel costs and predictions of a surge in Asian air travel.
Hong Kong's flagship airline, which is the third-biggest in Asia, is in no hurry to make a decision and is happy to avoid the hassles experienced by rival Asian carriers of being the first to fly such revolutionary aircraft.
Airbus' A380 superjumbo, the largest commercial plane in the skies, entered service only last week after two years' delay, while Boeing just announced a six-month delay in producing its lightweight 787 Dreamliner.
Given the inevitable teething problems, Cathay is shying away from billion-dollar commitments for new planes that won't be delivered for five years or more.
Tony Tyler, Cathay's chief executive, said the company is not comfortable about ordering that far ahead on a new aircraft type. He said the company will not be making a decision on any of these aircraft for at least two years.
Cathay has a mix of large Airbus and Boeing jets in its 110-strong wide-body fleet, and is taking delivery of another 23 Boeing 777 mini-jumbos over the next four years or so to cope with the expected growth in traffic to Hong Kong and China.
Airbus' A380, which made its maiden commercial flight for Singapore Airlines last week, is not an option for Cathay right now.
Tyler said in Cathay’s current fleet and network, buying A380 doesn't make as much sense as getting more 777-300ERs, which is Boeing's extended range mini-jumbo, seating about 385 people.
He said all the financial modelling shows that the company is better off offering more frequency with a very efficient aircraft like the 777 than simply adding more capacity to an existing frequency.
Cathay is also wary of being an early customer of an unproven commercial plane. Tyler said the company wants to see the A380 in operation for a bit first.
Singapore Airlines, which is Asia's largest carrier, had to wait much longer than expected for its first A380 after wiring problems repeatedly pushed the schedule back.
In the last month, Boeing has been telling its first 787 customers -- led by Japan's All Nippon Airways -- that they will have to wait at least six months more than planned as it wrestles with out-of-sequence work and a shortage of bolts.
Cargonews Asia
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