Cathay su A380 vs. B 748 vs. B777

[malpensante]

CEO says Cathay mulls A380 or 747-8 orders

By: Geoffrey Thomas

Cathay Pacific Airways CEO Tony Tyler told ATW in Perth that the carrier is still keeping the door open on possible A380 or 747-8 orders, while urging Boeing to improve its "fantastic" 777.
"The 777-300ER is a fantastic aircraft but it’s going to need to improve to compete with the A350-1000," he said. "Sure, the A350-1000 is not a Hong Kong–New York aircraft but it certainly is a Hong Kong–Europe aircraft. And so if they are going to sell more 777s to us they will have to improve it."
Tyler also said Boeing needs to make the 777 more efficient with more seat rows and reduced weight. "But I know they don’t intend to abandon that part of the market. They have a firm grip on it and intend to defend it."
On the A380 and 747-8, Tyler said there will come a time when "Cathay will need a bigger aircraft" for capacity-restrained airports such as Heathrow. But it has to fly from "West Coast US to Hong Kong, nonstop all-weather, with a full payload," challenged Tyler, who said these are "bread and butter" routes for CX.
Tyler noted CX would not be ordering a token number of super jumbos. "You have to order a sensible number to get the best deals and get the right economy of scale," he said, without putting a timetable on any potential order but hinted it would be a few years yet. The carrier has ordered 10 747-8Fs and will begin taking delivery in 2011.

ATWOnline

 

[Francesco.B.]

Un allungamento del 777-300ER come chiede Cathay così a occhio mi pare improbabile, gli esperti del forum che ne pensano?

 

[spantax]

Penso che sarebbe meraviglioso da vedere uno spilungone del genere !

 

[AZ209]

DATE:02/11/10
SOURCE:Air Transport Intelligence news
Cathay to only consider "substantial" order for large aircraft
By Siva Govindasamy

Cathay Pacific Airways is still weighing its large passenger aircraft requirements, but it is likely to make a "substantial order" of 10-15 aircraft if it goes ahead.
Airbus and Boeing have been strongly pitching their A380 and 747-8 respectively to Cathay, one of the largest operators of Boeing 747-400s around. However, the airline's chief operating officer John Slosar says that a decision is not imminent.
The Hong Kong flag carrier's order book of 18 Boeing 777-300ERs and 30 Airbus A350-900s is sufficient to meet its long-haul requirements for the next decade, he adds.
"Are we looking at large passenger aircraft? Of course we are. We are always looking at different aircraft. But we have plenty of long-haul aircraft that will arrive over the next few years, and that is enough for our requirements," he says.
"We just bought six more 777-300ERs, which have the longest range of any aircraft. We have also ordered 30 A350s, and may lease a few more to make it maybe 32, 33. These will help us to build up frequencies to our popular destinations, which is what our passengers say they want. It is not the aircraft type, but the frequency to popular slots that really matter."
Both Airbus and Boeing see Cathay as potentially one of the most lucrative customers for their large aircraft. That appears to be borne out by Slosar, who says that if Cathay goes ahead, it will not just order a handful of the large aircraft as that will not be "cost effective".
"Ordering just six to eight aircraft is not ideal. You need at least 10 to 15 in order for it to be cost effective in terms of operations, spares, engines and so on. There are many overheads involved in inducting a new aircraft into the fleet. That's why we must consider the decision very carefully," he says.
The Oneworld alliance member has 21 Boeing 747-400 and 11 Airbus A340-300 passenger aircraft in its fleet, and Slosar says that most of these will be retired over the next five years as they are "not that efficient" anymore.
"When these retire, we will have one of the most efficient long-haul fleets with our 777s and A350s. We are happy to be in that situation," he adds.