Hong Kong Airlines is seeing buoyant demand for long-haul flights. — Bloomberg
HONG KONG: Hong Kong Airlines Ltd wants to get hold of as many second-hand aircraft as it can for a renewed push into intercontinental travel.
A challenger to behemoth Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd, Hong Kong Airlines is seeing buoyant demand for long-haul flights, vice-president Gary Zhan said in an interview. Hong Kong-Vancouver services, which started in January, are running 90% full, he said. Direct flights to Sydney are due to commence in June.
Hong Kong Airlines, which is backed by HNA Group Co, has a fleet of 29 planes, down from a peak of almost 50 before the pandemic.
The company is attempting to rebuild as it considers flying to Melbourne in Australia, as well as the United States and Europe, said Zhan, who is in charge of the carrier’s operations.
“We need more aircraft,” he said. “We will introduce as many as possible.”
Aviation’s fractured supply chain and the limited availability of aircraft make it difficult to set specific expansion targets, but Hong Kong Airlines’ fleet could grow by at least a third in the short term, Zhan said.
After emerging from a HK$49bil (US$6.3bil) debt restructuring in 2022, Hong Kong Airlines’ rebuild depends almost entirely on used jets.
The airline doesn’t have any new aircraft on order and would have to wait years for deliveries. The order backlog for new Airbus SE and Boeing Co jets stretches to the end of the decade.
The airline is currently in talks to lease five to 10 aircraft, Zhan said. The company is eyeing Airbus A330s, A320 family single-aisle jets and Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner for long-haul operations, he said.
In recent months, sister HNA carrier Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines Co put up for sale a combined 19 Boeing 787-8s, the smallest of the Dreamliner family, in a rare sale of aircraft in bulk. — Bloomberg
