A380-800 wrote:Just because all other big carriers have them, too!
I'm sorry to say this, but this is one of the most crappiest arguments I have ever heard. Ordering certain airline for prestige belongs in the "golden age" of aviation, when money never was that kind of a problem...
You are right B744skipper, nowadays money talks and if the demand is
not there for an A380 the airlines will just not order it.
However, I personally would love to see 2-3 A380's in CPA's colours, though.
Cathay is not too happy with the three leased A340-600, so I think they may go with the B777-300ER even though it's not with RR engines that they prefer. They ordered the A340-300 despite it's CFM engines.
Cathay is more interested in B747Adv than the A380. Its business model is changing, and they prefer more frequencies than more capacities per flight. By the end of this year, they'll have 4 daily to LHR, 3 daily to LAX, 2 daily to JFK, 2 daily to YVR, and 2 daily to SYD. More frequencies at different time of the day allow Cathay to make HK a true hub and allow passengers more options on when to fly and to make easier connections. (Sometimes, they fly the 2 daily to SYD with A330/A340 in both frequencies compared to the old daily flight with B747-400.) A380 can be used, but there're only a few routes on Cathay's network that would make sense for it. They already have B747's in its fleet, including freighters that will be around for a while. Plus, after two sudden drops in passenger traffic (Asian financial crisis in 1997-99; SARS in 2003), big, costly planes like the A380 sitting at HK doing nothing would not be very economical.
I'm not saying Cathay will never fly the A380, but I don't think they will in the next 10 years. Remember, the first B747 came out in late 1960's, but Cathay's first B747 was delivered in 1979/1980 time frame.
B787/A350 is less likely to be part of the Cathay's fleet because of their capacity. Unless they make them to the size of the A330, Cathay probably will have no use of them, but never say never.
I read it in some newspaper on the web. Can't remember for sure. It could be from atwonline.com, where they had (more than one time) quoted from a so-called "inside source" of Cathay Pacific. Or I could've read it from a HK newspaper.
I think both. According to ATWonline.com, they want to replace A340-600 (on HKG-JFK non-stop route) with B747-Adv, although I doubt it's true if they're still considering A340-600 and B777-300ER. I think Cathay has more non-stop routes they can consider, ie HKG-YYZ non-stop (right now it has a technical stop at ANC), HKG-ORD, even HKG-DFW (two AA's hubs), plus, it may start its first around-the-world service (maybe HKG-LHR-JFK-YVR-HKG), and more frequencies to existing long-haul routes as part of expansion. In fact, they're so short of planes, they even bought a few SQ's 744's to increase its fleet size, including a few to become 747-400SF.
In the long run, the 747Adv will replace the older 747-400s. I think 20 years of age is about time to renew, and the first batch of 744 for Cathay will reach that age in 2009/2010.
As for regional routes, it's obvious that A330 will be its key with B777 as a supplement. And it's obvious to say that Cathay likes B773 over B772, and A333 over A343, because Cathay hasn't ordered any B772 and A343 in a while. The last few orders have been B773, A333, and B744F.
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