Cathay Pacific orders 27 Airbus, Boeing planes

Cathay Pacific yesterday said it has ordered 27 planes from Airbus and Boeing in a deal worth as much as $6.55 billion, as the carrier reported a record profit for 2010.

The Hong Kong airline said it had struck a deal with European aircraft maker Airbus to buy 15 A330-300s and a separate agreement with US-based Boeing for 10 777-300ERs as it moved to expand its fleet.

The deal also included leasing two more Airbus A350-900s from International Lease Finance Corporation, Cathay said, adding that all the models would be delivered before the end of 2015.

Cathay said it was in talks to acquire 14 more planes in addition to those announced yesterday, but did not elaborate further.

The total list price for the 27 planes was HK$51 billion although they would “be acquired at a considerable discount, as is the usual practice in such transactions,” Cathay said.

Cathay posted a net profit of $1.80 billion in 2010, nearly triple the 2009 result; year-on-year revenue increased by 33.7 per cent to HK$89.52 billion, it added.

The airline and its regional unit Dragonair carried 26.8 million passengers in 2010, a 9.1 per cent increase, it said.

Cathay’s latest financial results marked a major turnaround from 2008 when the carrier reported a record HK$8.69 billion loss as the global economic downturn hammered the airline industry, before the return to profit in 2009.

But the carrier also warned that prices for fuel, typically an airline’s single biggest cost, were 28 per cent higher in 2010 from the previous year. The current political instability across much of the Middle East could mean prices will be “potentially higher” than forecast this year, Pratt said. The plane orders announced Wednesday come after Cathay booked its biggest-ever single purchase in September last year, buying 30 Airbus long-range A350 aircraft for a $7.82 billion list price.

Cathay said it now has a total of 91 new aircraft on order for delivery between now and 2019, with a total list price of about HK$185 billion.

On Tuesday, Boeing said Cathay rival Hong Kong Airlines, which currently has just 18 aircraft servicing routes to Asia and to Russia, had placed a preliminary order for 38 planes worth up to $8.5 billion at list prices.