Cathay Pacific has taken delivery of the 1,000th Airbus A330 manufactured. The aircraft, an A330-300 powered by Rolls-Royce Trent 700 engines, was handed over to the airline at special ceremony in Toulouse.
The Hong Kong airline, together with its sister airline Dragonair, is the world’s largest operator of the A330 with a total of 56 now in service. Since accepting its first A330 in 1995, Cathay Pacific’s Airbus fleet now comprises 38 A330-300s and 11 A340s, while Dragonair flies 21 single-aisle A320 family aircraft and 18 A330-300s. The Cathay Pacific Group has orders for 10 more A330-300s as well as 48 A350s.
Cathay Pacific chief operating officer Ivan Chu said: “The A330 has played an integral part in Cathay Pacific’s growth. The A330 is the backbone of our mid-size fleet and we are delighted with the reliability, flexibility and above all the economics of this great aircraft.”
The A330’s market appeal is demonstrated daily by more than 100 operators that fly A330s on missions from 30 minutes to over 14 hours. About 1.2 billion passengers have flown on the type to and from the 300 airports it serves today. More than 1,250 A330s have been ordered to date.
Locally, Qantas operates 10 A330-300s and 10 A330-200s, Jetstar 10 A330-200s and Virgin Australia six A330-200s.
