Cathay Pacific : CX : CPA

Jeannot a écrit:Sur : [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

Catthay Pacific to announce orders for 14 777F, 747-8F at next week's Paris Air Show.

Cathay Pacific devrait annoncer la commande de 14 freighters (777F et 747-8F) au Bourget

A confirmer car pas dans les habitudes de Cathay Pacific selon Sevrien

Après tout, il aurait très bien pu attendre le Bourget pour faire l'annonce de la commande ferme des A350-XWB-900 ! :lol:

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for May 2011 that show a slight year-on-year rise in passenger numbers alongside a drop in the passenger load factor, and a decrease in the amount of cargo and mail carried.


Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,208,385 passengers last month – up 1.1% on the same month last year – while the passenger load factor was down 3 percentage points to 78.3%.

Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 9.1%.

For the year to date, the number of passengers carried is up by 1.6% compared to a capacity rise of 9.9%.


The two airlines carried 138,095 tonnes of cargo and mail last month, a 12.9% decrease compared to the same month last year, while the cargo and mail load factor was down 10.9 percentage points to 68.2%.

Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 6.1%, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown were down by 8.6%.

For the year so far, tonnage has dropped by 3.1% compared to a capacity increase of 16.4%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management Tom Owen said:

"Although economy class load factors fell with the significant ASK growth, our quality of revenue grew which, combined with a robust premium performance and positive currency effect, saw the total revenue efficiency improve over May 2010.

The weakness on Japan, Shanghai and Middle Eastern routes in particular continued to affect performance, but
this was offset by stronger North American, UK and Southeast Asian revenue results.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow said:

“In May the market remained quiet and well below the strong May 2010 result when restocking of inventories remained in full swing.

Europe was particularly weak and Cathay Pacific reduced Europe capacity to better match the lower level of demand.”

HONG KONG (Dow Jones)--Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. (0293.HK) said Wednesday it plans to buy a total of 12 passenger aircraft and freighters from Boeing Co. (BA) at a total catalog price of US$3.28 billion, as part of the Hong Kong-based airline's expansion plans.
The blue-chip airline, which is controlled by conglomerate Swire Pacific Ltd. (0019.HK), said in a statement it agreed to buy 4 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft at a total catalog price of US$1.091 billion.

It will also buy 8 Boeing 777-200 freighters from the aircraft manufacturer for a total catalog price of US$2.191 billion.

The airline didn't disclose the actual cost of the purchases, but it said Boeing has granted "significant price concessions." Airlines usually receive discounts from manufacturers for large aircraft orders.

Cathay Pacific said it expects to take delivery of the Boeing aircraft between 2013 and 2016.

Boeing is looking to finish flight tests for its much-awaited 787 Dreamliner this weekend, the company's chief of commercial planes said on Thursday.

The 787 is still set for delivery to All Nippon Airways in September and will see a production rate increase later this year, Jim Albaugh said at an industry conference.

Boeing is about three years behind schedule in delivering the first 787, largely because of snags in the unusually complex global supply chain.

Albaugh also said the company plans to go to its board of directors later this month for approval of its plan to make a version of its best-selling 737 narrow-body plane with a new, fuel-efficient engine.

The re-engined model is already seeing strong interest, Albaugh said.

Separately, Boeing said it took 19 new orders for 777s in the week ended August 10, including 12 orders from Cathay Pacific Airways, which were announced a day earlier.

The other seven orders were from an unidentified customer or customers, Boeing said in its weekly order update.

Nineteen 777 wide-bodies are valued near USD$5.4 billion at list prices. Cathay Pacific ordered eight 777 Freighters and four 777-300ERs.

Boeing has taken orders for a net total of 268 commercial planes so far in 2011.
(Reuters)

• (a) non seulement les 8 x B777-300ER constitue "commande de compensation", destinée à régler les impacts des retards colossaux sur le programme B787 (variantr -9, pour SIA), .. mais aussi,
  
• (b) SIA commence à perdre patience devant l'absence de communication fiable et sérieuse émanant du Groupe Boeing vers ses clients, .. dont SIA, qui a des conversations avec ANZ (on voit tout de suite la correspondance), ... et que,
  
• (c) compte tenu du nouveau planning, annoncé par Airbus pour la / les versions A350-XWB-800, et des progrès concrets que SIA constate sur l'A350-XWB-900, et le moteur RR Trent XWB-900 ("centre-line engine" en "commonality" totale avec le(s) RR Trent XWB-800),
  
• (d) SIA pourrait annuler ses B787-9, pour prendre l'Airbus A350-WXB-800, qui correspond parfaitement au B787-9, avec un rayon d'action et d'autres aspects de souplesse, bien supérieurs à celu du B787-9, et, qu'il semblerait être entendu que le -800, grâce à la date plus éloignée d'EIS, ne soit pas, mainternant, un simple "shrink" de la version XWB-900, mais (de nouveau), monté comme une variante jouissant d'une subnstantielle optimlisation.
  

Cathay Pacific Airways today released combined Cathay Pacific and Dragonair traffic figures for August 2011 showing a year-on-year increase in passenger numbers alongside a rise in capacity.

Cargo and mail tonnage showed a significant decline compared to the same month in 2010.


Cathay Pacific and Dragonair carried a total of 2,510,507 passengers last month – up 3.6% on the same month last year – while the passenger load factor fell by 0.2 percentage points to 84.2%.

Capacity for the month, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up by 7.0%.

For the year to date, the number of passengers carried increased by 2% while capacity was up by 9.1%.


The two airlines carried 131,448 tonnes of cargo and mail in August, an 11.8% decrease compared to the same month last year, while the cargo and mail load factor was down 7.8 percentage points to 64.9%.

Capacity, measured in available cargo/mail tonne kilometres, was up by 1%, while cargo and mail tonne kilometres flown were down by 9.7%.

For the year to date, tonnage has dropped by 6% compared to a capacity increase of 11.2%.

Cathay Pacific General Manager Revenue Management James Tong said:

“Traffic in the summer peak remained strong and the increase in demand, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres (RPK) was in line with capacity growth. We continued to see a strong performance in the region, in particular from Southeast Asia, South Korea and the secondary Chinese cities, though demand in the Middle East remained weak. Our premium traffic continued to have a strong performance and we are seeing good growth in terms of both volume and yield.”

Cathay Pacific General Manager Cargo Sales & Marketing James Woodrow said:

"The market from Asia to Europe and Transpacific remained weak in August, though intra-Asia continued to perform solidly.
Additional freighter frequencies to Australia were added for September due to strong imports driven by the strong Australian dollar.
The first half of September overall remained soft as expected, though tonnages should start to gradually improve over the coming weeks."

Cathay “satisfied” with 747-8F, sticks to October delivery target

Cathay Pacific Airways says that it is "satisfied" with the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] freighters and remains on track to take delivery of its first aircraft in October.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the launch customer for the 747-8F, rejected the first two aircraft that had been due for delivery on 19 and 21 September, citing "unresolved contractual issues" with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

"Cathay Pacific's commercial arrangements with all its suppliers, including Boeing, are confidential. However, we are satisfied that our commercial arrangements with Boeing take account of the known and disclosed specification and performance characteristics of the aircraft," said Hong Kong's flag carrier in a statement.

The airline added that it is on track to receive the first of 10 747-8Fs that it has ordered.

"The news mentioned will not affect Cathay Pacific's own deliveries. We expect to take delivery of our first 747-8F in October this year," said the Oneworld alliance member.

Negotiations between Boeing, engine supplier GE Aviation, Cargolux and 35% stakeholder [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] centre on the freighter's performance targets.

However, sources say that the issue also appears to be the compensation to Qatar from Boeing for the delays to its Boeing 787s.

Boeing has acknowledged the gap in the 747's performance, saying that the first aircraft would be "somewhat short of initial specifications for fuel burn". However, these are believed to have been known to customers for more than a year.

Cargolux, which has 13 747-8Fs on order, said that it has put on hold the financing for the freighters and is prepared to seek alternatives should the negotiations fail.

"In the event that the issues cannot be resolved in a timely manner, Cargolux will source alternative capacity to fully meet customer demand and expectations ahead of the traditional high season," said the airline.

Cargolux has assembled a new board of directors following the recently completed acquisition by Qatar Airways of a 35% shareholding in the Luxembourg-based freight specialist.

Cathay Pacific took delivery of its first Boeing 747-8 Freighter aircraft on 31 October.

"We took delivery of our first [Boeing] 747-8F on 31 October Seattle time and the aircraft is on its way to Hong Kong now," said a Cathay Pacific official.

The carrier, which has 10 747-8Fs on order, is the second customer to take delivery of the type after Cargolux.

Cathay Pacific also has eight Boeing 777-200 Freighters on order.

Jeannot a écrit:La commande de Hong Kong Airlines va peut être pousser Cathay Pacific dans les bras du 380 ? Just a though !

Jeannot a écrit:Cathay Pacific prend 6 A350-900

Cathay Pacific says to buy 6 Airbus aircraft

Hong Kong's dominant carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Friday that it has signed a deal to buy six Airbus A350-900 aircraft with a basic price of $1.628 billion for delivery between 2016 and 2017.

The company said in a stock exchange filing that it would pay for the aircraft in cash in eight installments, to be funded by loans, other debt instruments and internal cash.

The Airbus aircraft would replenish and expand the company's fleet capacity and will principally serve long-haul destinations in Europe, the statement said.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

• sept. 2010 : 30 x A350-XWB-900 ;
  
• mars 2011 : 2 x A350-XWB-900 ;
  
• janvier, 2012 : 6 x A350-XWB-900.
  
• 
  
• Total : 38 ?
  

Gill2 a écrit:Bonjour

Les 2 A350 XWB-900 de mars 2011 correspondent à un placement par ILFC

qui s'ajoutent aux 30 + 6 appareils désormais en "firm commitments"

Réactions?

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways (CX), which has warned its first-half results are “expected to be disappointing,” said it will cut costs and reduce capacity as operating costs rise due to high fuel prices and economic uncertainty.

CX COO Ivan Chu said fuel costs, which account for 42% of the total operating expenses, and fuel hedging is not enough to offset rising fuel expenses.

CX CEO John Slosar said the company had previously warned “that 2012 is looking even more challenging than 2011 and we were therefore cautious about prospects for this year ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]).

In response to the challenging environment we face, we are reducing costs where possible, including through a reduction of capacity.”

On the passenger side, the Cathay Pacific Group will see its capacity growth reduced to 3.2% from the targeted 7% this year.

The carrier will reduce its flight frequencies on some long-haul routes to North America and Europe.

For cargo, CX will now target 4% growth instead of 7%. CX operates 25 freighters, including five Boeing 747-8Fs.

The carrier is also expected to deploy more fuel-efficient 777-300ERs on more routes, including flights to San Francisco and Paris, as well as speed up the retirement of its older 747-400s.

The airline operates 21 747-400 passenger aircraft and will retire three this year.

CX will retire five more in 2013 and one more in early 2014, bringing the fleet down to 12 aircraft.

In addition, the company will offer voluntary unpaid leave for cabin crew from June, will cancel non-essential business travel for staff, and will reduce its marketing and IT spending.

SEVRIEN a écrit:.......Trois observations (concernant la flotte 'passagers') .

(i) Avec 38 appareils pour sa flotte, Cathay a fait ses emplettes pour ce qui s'appelait les "mid-size wide-body jets".

Tout est possible, mais Cathay n'ira pas spontanément acquérir le B787, ...... sauf à se laisser tenter par le B787-10, comme remplaçant un jour pour ses A330. Mais ce jour-là est bien lointain ! Les récentes commandes d'A330 le démontrent (33 x A330-300 dans la flotte, déjà, et 19 commandés, en attente de livraison ; tous à moteurs RR Trent famille 700 ; Cathay est ravi de cette motorisation, et, comme le marché, ne voudrait même pas entendre parler de remotorisation).

(ii) Pour le long-courrier, il a fait son choix pour le B777-300ER (24 dans la flotte ; 26 commandés, me semble-t-il). Malgré le nombre limité de places (config. allant de 228 à 301 places). Il a les moteurs GE90-115B sous surveillance rapprochée. (Sevrien : 20 juin, 2012 : il est indéniable que cet appareil permet à Cathay Pacific de rentabiliser confortablement les lignes où les B747-400 commençaient à obérer la performance en profitabilité de la Cie. ; et un des facteurs est que Cathay exploite avec afficacité les opérations de 'fret en soute' / "belly freight", auxquelles le fuselage du B777 est très bien adapté).

(iii) Il commandera l'A380-800, dans la même version que celle qui sera livré à BA (et, sans doute, à motorisation RR Trent 900-EP). La commmande sera, sans doute, assorti d'options, et d'une clause de conversion, notamment, au bénéfice de la variante "stretch" A380-900, version à laquelle va sa nette préférence. La Cie. l'a dit, du temps de Tony TYLER, maintient sa position, et aura la patience qu'il faudra. (Sevrien : 20 juin, 2012 : sans la possibilité de cette option, Cathay pourrait ne pas commander l'A380-800, car -- il est vrai-- ce format n'est pas assez intéressant pour les opérations de fret en soute ; tout ce qui et lié à l'aile, au caisson central, et à la jonction entre cet ensemble et le fuselage -- étant donné la dimension des "wing roots" et la 'place soute'que ces éléments prélèvent dans la version 800, militent en faveur de l'attente de l'arrivée de la version "Stretch" A380-900, pour lequel Cathay aurait beaucoup d'enthousiasme).******
Cathay serait intéressé par la version -1000 dans la gamme des A350-XWB. Car il anticipe de pouvoir, avec cet appareil, transporter davantage de passagers que dans ses actuels B777-300ER (livrés déjà, et / ou comandés), plus loin, et dans de bien meilleures conditions économiques (économies de 28% à 30% au niveau des DOC, par rapport aux DOC des B777-300ER ; 'il n'y a pas photo').

****** En mars, 2011, en réponse à un excellent post de Bergame, voici un extrait de ladite réponse.

Sevrien a écrit: Nous avons écrit à ce sujet. Voici ce que nous avions écrit en mai, 2008 (même avant) :

Déjà orphelin, ce B747-8I ! Il n'ira que vers les Cies. "aux ordres" ! Même Cathay n'en veut pas ! Peut-être que cette Cie. prendra le -8F ! Mais, en terme de très gros porteur, .. c'est l'A380-900 qui l'intéresse !

Aussi :
Pour Cathay Päcific, on voit plutôt le B747-8 en version"F". Si un Super Jumbo trouve une place chez Cathay, ce sera sans doute la version "stretch", A380-900 !

Sevrien a écrit: Une raison pour ces remarques est, précisément, que le "belly freight" est dit / reconnu avoir son importance dans la stratégie de Cathay Pacific, et que la version A380-900 "stretch" a une certaine attractivité pour Cathay (avouée par la Cie. ). La longueur supplémentaire du fuselage de l'A380-900 atténue le problème "belly freight" que pose l'A380-800 !

D'ailleurs, on se demande si les 6 x A350-XWB-900, récemment commandés, ne sont pas déjà prévus spécifiquement pour la conversion en version -1000, nouvelle définition, afin d'assurer des créneaux de livraison 'vers le début du programme -1000' (mais après les premiers réservés pour Qatar, Emirates et Etihad).

Car on remarque que la commande des 30 x A350-XWB-900 sont 'pour livraison à partir de 2016 / 2017, sur une période de 3 ans', .... alors que les 6 x 350--XWB-900, récemmant commandés, sont dits être livrables à partir de 2016 / 2017, .... sans mention de la durée de la période des 6 livraisons en question.

Ah-ah, ... aaah !
------------------
Réactions?

Cathay Pacific Airways n’est toujours pas pressée d’acheter de l’Airbus A380. "Notre stratégie s’organise autour des biréacteurs long-courriers Airbus A330 et Boeing 777-300ER", a déclaré John Slosar, président de la compagnie, lors de la réception d’un A330-300 à Toulouse, samedi 15 juin. Et de poursuivre : "Hong Kong est une destination d’hommes d’affaires. Ces derniers veulent d’abord des fréquences".

"Par conséquent, nous préférons proposer trois fréquences quotidiennes entre deux destinations plutôt qu’une", ajoute John Slosar qui, poli, ne veut pas "insulter l’avenir" en précisant que Cathay Pacific "gardait un œil sur l’A380". Son prédécesseur, Tony Tyler, s’était montré plus "brutal"." L’A380 signifie au moins cent sièges de plus que le 747. Des sièges qu’il faut aussi remplir et rentabiliser avec une clientèle à la recette unitaire élevée", expliquait-il.

Et d’ajouter : "cette catégorie de passagers ne génère pas forcément un flux de trafic suffisamment régulier. L’autre inconvénient de l’A380 est un emport de fret en soute insuffisant. Or pour Cathay Pacific, le fret est une donne importante. Cette activité génère 30 % de notre chiffre d’affaires total". Si l’A380 n’intéresse toujours pas Cathay Pacific, cette dernière a logiquement commandé de l’A350 à raison de 36 exemplaires.

FARNBOROUGH, England (Reuters) - Airbus ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) will be looking for a long-awaited new order for its A350-1000 mini-jumbo at this week's Farnborough Airshow, with Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific <0293.HK> tipped as most likely to end the model's three-year order drought, industry sources said.

Cathay Pacific has 36 of the A350-900 base model on order, and may add on further orders for the stretched A350-1000 or convert some of its existing orders, or both, the sources said.

Il me semblait que le chiffre était 38, et non pas 36 (certes, 36 "firme commitments" , ... mais avec 2 "placements" d'ILFC an sus) ! ?

Sevrien a écrit: En plus, il s'agit de "repeat business" avant livraison et EIS ! Le contrat inclut, certainement, des 'droits de conversion' vers l'A350-XWB-1000, ... ce qui permettra à Cathay d'éviter une attente trop longue pour la livraison de la variante -1000.

Cathay ferait partie des clients intéressés par la nouvelle définition. A voir.

Airbus and Cathay Pacific declined to comment.

Airbus says the future 350-seat carbon-composite passenger jet will be significantly more efficient than Boeing's ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) 777 but has so far been unable to make a significant dent in the 777's hold on a lucrative corner of the jet market, just below 400 seats.

Airbus is building the first A350-900 test aircraft and has a total of 548 of the three variants of long-distance twinjet on order. Of these 62 are for the A350-1000.

Some Middle East airlines have complained about the range of this largest variant, prompting Airbus and engine maker Rolls-Royce ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) to bolster the engine design and relaunch the aircraft at the Paris Air Show last year.

Airbus attributes slow sales of the A350-1000 to the lack of availability before late in this decade, but Boeing continues to post strong sales of the 777 which had a record year in 2011.

Boeing is touting a more efficient 407-seat version of its most profitable jet with new engines to try to stay ahead of the A350-1000 which is based on a lighter fuselage.

The A350 family also competes with the 787 Dreamliner.

Eyes at the July 9-15 event will also be on the lower end of the long-distance wide-body market where the reverse is happening - Airbus prolonging the life of a current-generation aircraft with good sales of the A330, while Boeing prepares to answer back with a possible next-generation type called 787-10.

A potential Philippines order for A330s could add to what some sources say could be a busier-than-expected event for Airbus, which tends to spring Air Show surprises, while Boeing is dampening widespread reports of an order blitz by insisting it builds up its portfolio as orders come in over the year.

Airbus sales chief John Leahy said in an interview last week he did not expect to sell as many aircraft as Boeing at Farnborough, while Boeing Chief Executive James McNernney told European newspapers on Sunday it could outsell Airbus for "a number of years" having trailed for nearly a decade.

Airbus outsold Boeing by a record margin last year.

The two planemakers have most of the market for narrowbody short-haul planes and control all the market for wide-bodies.

Including smaller competitors, global jet sales are estimated at approximately $100 billion a year.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Alison Leung; Editing by Erica Billingham)

• imbécilités racontées par les 'mégaphones ambulants', tels que "Entertainer Tim" CLARK d'EMIRATES, et "U-Turn Ali" (Akbar AL BAKER), de Qatar, qui, hélas, semble avoir comme mission, entre autres, de damer le pion à "Entertainer Tim", quelles que soient les âneries que ce dernier raconte (quelle malheureuse mission ! ) ;
  
• 
  
• bobards diffusées ici et là par les agités de service, moutons de mode, adeptes de la pensée unique et du véhiculage des idées reçues sur divers Forums d'ailleurs, et ceux qui, bourrés de mauvaise foi et de parti-pris, nous gavent avec leurs avis personnels, faux et infondés, et qui, surtout, ont bien montré qu'ils ne comprennent rien -- ou si peu-- à l'aéronautique, à l'aviation, et au transport aérien !
  

Cathay Pacific has become the first carrier to order the Airbus A350-1000 since the twinjet underwent a substantial redesign last year.

SEVRIEN a écrit:.....

Quelle excellente nouvelle pour Airbus, Rolls-Royce, ...et Cathay, bien sûr.

Qui disait que l'A350-XWB avait des problèmes, et marquait le pas en matière de prises de commandes ? Ah, oui, ... encore un qui a laissé passer une bonne occasion de se taire.

Jeannot a écrit:Cathay Pacific prend 6 A350-900

Cathay Pacific says to buy 6 Airbus aircraft

Hong Kong's dominant carrier Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd said on Friday that it has signed a deal to buy six Airbus A350-900 aircraft with a basic price of $1.628 billion for delivery between 2016 and 2017.

The company said in a stock exchange filing that it would pay for the aircraft in cash in eight installments, to be funded by loans, other debt instruments and internal cash.

The Airbus aircraft would replenish and expand the company's fleet capacity and will principally serve long-haul destinations in Europe, the statement said.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

En plus, il s'agit de "repeat business" avant livraison et EIS ! Le contrat inclut, certainement, des 'droits de conversion' vers l'A350-XWB-1000, ... ce qui permettra à Cathay d'éviter une attente trop longue pour la livraison de la variante -1000.

Cathay ferait partie des clients intéressés par la nouvelle définition. A voir. ............

The Hong Kong-based operator is already a customer for the A350-900.

Sixteen of these will convert to -1000s.

Ten new -1000s will be ordered, giving Cathay 26 of the largest A350 version.

It (Cathay) will also have 20 -900s.

Cathay says it is "effectively" the first customer for the jet.

Airbus overhauled the -1000 last year to increase its range. Four other carriers had ordered the type before the redesign.

All A350-1000s will be powered exclusively by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

Dans toute la plendeur de leur ignardise (et leur embarras, maintenant ; vous voyez les figures bien rouges ! ), ... que pensent nos Agités de Service et autres "armchair experts" des Forums d'ailleurs ?

Cathay Pacific has firmed an agreement with Airbus to convert 16 of its [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft on order into the larger -1000 variant and has exercised an option to purchase 10 new -1000s.

The Hong Kong-based operator signed a supplemental agreement with Airbus on 8 August 2012, after its major shareholders approved the move.

The conversion to the larger variant is expected to cost Cathay an additional $1.087 billion at list prices. The carrier's 2010 order for 30 -900s is worth $7.82 billion at list prices.

The additional 10 new -1000s to be purchased is expected to cost $3.286 billion at list prices.

Delivery of the 26 aircraft is scheduled to start in 2018, through to 2020.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]
© Airbus

At the Farnborough air show in July, Cathay had announced its intention to convert the -900 orders and to order an additional 10 -1000s.

The aircraft will be paid for in eight cash instalments, with seven payments to be made before the delivery of each aircraft, and the balance to be paid upon delivery, Cathay said in a statement on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

It adds that the purchase will be funded through commercial bank loans, other debt instruments and also cash from its operations.

"The Airbus aircraft will replenish and expand the fleet capacity of Cathay. They will principally serve long-haul destinations in North America and Europe," says the carrier.

It adds that the aircraft is expected to improve passenger payload and also provide high standards of comfort and safety.

The announcement comes hours after the carrier reported a net loss of HK$935 million ($97 million) for the six months ended 30 June, compared with a net profit of HK$2.81 billion the same time last year.

Airbus overhauled the -1000 last year to increase its range. Four other carriers had ordered the type before the redesign.

All A350-1000s will be powered exclusively by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

Cathay eyes newEuropean and North American points with A350-900



Cathay Pacific believes that the superior "economics" of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] will allow the airline to open up more than a dozen new points in Europe and North America from its base in Hong Kong.

Calling the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] a "really strategic aircraft", [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] that the options that it offers the airline "will be really important for us".

Some of the European destinations that could open up for the Oneworld alliance member include Berlin, Dusseldorf, Manchester, and Madrid, says Slosar. Together with the new points in North America, these will allow Cathay to offer non-stop services to Hong Kong and then connections to points in Asia.

"This is why the A350-900 is a really strategic aircraft because we think the economics of that will allow us to add a lot more direct services to Europe and even some in North America on that," says Slosar.

Cathay has orders for 20 A350-900s and 26 of the larger -1000 variants. It expects to get its first -900 in 2016, and Slosar says that [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is doing a "very good job" in managing the programme and the risks associated with it.

"We are very heavily invested in the success of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. I will give Airbus a hat tip - they are doing a very good job with that. They say that they are going to be flying in 2013, and it looks to me like they will. And we are really looking forward to the airplane getting in the sky as a step towards delivery," says Slosar.

"From what I see, they are managing the programme well, and managing the risks and making pretty good progress. As much as the [[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]] [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] was a huge story when it initially came out of 2007, it took a while, but it was a big story even when it flew two years ago. The A350 flying will be one of the huge stories of 2013."