Cathay Pacific interested in bigger Airbus A350

Toulouse

CATHAY Pacific Airways said it is talking with Airbus Group about the planemaker's proposal for a bigger version of the newest A350 widebody, a model which needs to attract a strong set of initial customers to get the go-ahead.

Cathay, which already has 48 A350s on order, is keen on a so-called stretched variant that would allow it to serve destinations such as Miami non-stop from its base in Hong Kong, chief executive Ivan Chu said.

Asia's largest international airline by passengers took the first of 22 325-seat A350-900s it has on order last weekend, and is also buying 26 366-seat A350-1000s. An even bigger plane, unofficially dubbed the A350-8000, could have more seats, or trade off capacity against an increase in range.

While Cathay Pacific will use the A350-1000 to serve the east and west coasts of the United States, the plane could not reach Miami or some potential destinations in Latin America, Mr Chu said.The airline is also liaising with Rolls-Royce about a more powerful upgrade of the plane's XWB engine that would be required to gain the extra range.

The ongoing talks are "routine", Mr Chu added. "We are interested in seeing what they can do," he said in Dublin, prior to the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting there.

Airbus chief executive Fabrice Bregier said this week that Airbus is still assessing whether demand is sufficient to merit investing several billion euros in a bigger A350, and that a decision is unlikely to come by the Farnborough Air Show in mid-July.

The backbone of Cathay's long-haul fleet is currently Boeing's 777-300ER, of which it has 53 examples, with 21 next-generation 777-9Xs on order.

Mr Chu said he is not interested in Airbus's A380 superjumbo, which is generally outfitted with 525 seats, since it doesn't favour the high-frequency timetables needed to lure corporate passengers. BLOOMBERG