Cathay seeks long-range belly hold jets, avoids jumbos

HONG Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways says it is negotiating with Boeing on acquiring 787 Dreamliners and Airbus A350s and will avoid jumbos like A380 or the 747-8 Intercontinental.

The market for jumbos is shrinking with Cathay Pacific being one of many carriers' going for Boeing's 777. "The 777 is a great cargo carrier and has a huge belly and doesn't have that many passengers," Cathay CEO Tony Tyler told Bloomberg. "The A380 doesn't have such a huge belly, and you've got 500 plus passenger bags to accommodate."

The US$1.2 billion raised in the sale of Cathay's 15 per cent stake in Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co is expected to help pay for the 22 aircraft to be delivered in the next four years.
(Source:www.schednet.com)