Cathay to upgrade its Airbus A350-900 orders into larger A350-1000s

HONG KONG's Cathay Pacific announced that it will convert 16 of its ordered Airbus A350-900s into larger Airbus A350-1000s and exercise its option to buy an additional 10 Airbus A350-1000s, subject to board approval on August 8.

The list price of the 10 aircraft is HK$25.56 billion (US$3.29 billion) and the incremental list price for the conversion is about HK$8.45 billion.

Cathay Pacific is also investing HK$5.9 billion in a new cargo terminal at Hong Kong International Airport, scheduled to open in early 2013.

Said Cathay CEO John Slosar: "The A350-1000 aircraft will bring us world-beating fuel efficiency. It will allow us to connect more and more cities worldwide with Hong Kong. With this, Cathay Pacific will have a total of 100 aircraft on order for delivery by 2020."

Following this latest order, the airline will have 22 Airbus A350-900s and 26 Airbus A350-1000s on order. The A350-1000 aircraft will be powered by the higher thrust version of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine.

Mr Slosar said that the latest aircraft order demonstrates the airline's confidence in Hong Kong and its very successful aviation hub and underlines its commitment as the home carrier of Hong Kong.