Cathay Pacific to lease up to fifty A320neo for HK Express
Cathay Pacific is looking to source up to fifty A320-200neo family aircraft from lessors Citing people familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg says Cathay Pacific and its subsidiary, HK Express, would rather acquire the aircraft directly from the manufacturer, but a significant uptick in passenger demand following Hong Kong and mainland China reopening their borders means neither airline can afford to wait over a half a decade for first deliveries.
The airline has 129 aircraft back in the air and CEO Ronald Lam recently said all remaining parked aircraft would be re-activated by early 2024. At HK Express, 22 of its 27 aircraft are back in service, and consists of A320s and A321s, according to airline’s website data.
- 5 A320-200
- 10 A320neo
- 11 A321-200
- 1 A321neo, 15 on order
Cathay Pacific flew 1,114,727 passengers in February, a 3,467% increase on the comparable 2022 figure. “By the end of March, the Cathay Group will be operating approximately 50% of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity, covering more than 70 destinations,” said Lam.
HK Express, is a Hong Kong–based low-cost airline fully owned by Cathay Pacific Airways. It provides scheduled air service to 27 destinations in Asia, including Cambodia, China, Japan, South Korea, the Northern Mariana Islands, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. The airline’s main hub at Hong Kong International Airport uses a fleet that consists exclusively of the Airbus A320 family.
To date, widebody aircraft have made up the majority of Cathay Pacific’s fleet. While Cathay Pacific has a total of 191 active and inactive aircraft, only 16 of them are narrowbodies. That number includes four inactive A320-200s, three inactive A321-200s, and nine (one inactive) A321-200neo with a further seven on order. The A321s were transferred from merged Cathay Dragon, and never entered service with Cathay Pacific.
While HK Express leases all of its aircraft, parent Cathay Pacific has traditionally purchased aircraft rather than lease them. Only 11% of Cathay’s current fleet is leased, primarily long-haul widebodies, including Boeing 777-300ERs, Airbus A330-300s, and A350-900s.
Neither Cathay Pacific nor HK Express have any narrowbody aircraft on order at Boeing or Airbus, indicating that the additional A321-200neos will arrive via lessors.