Summary
- Hainan Airlines has entered into an agreement to purchase cabin kitchen equipment for the Airbus A330-900.
- However, the airline has no A330-900 aircraft in its fleet, hinting a potential order for the type.
- If the order goes through, it would be the first A330neo order in 2024.
A stock exchange filing might have spoiled the fact that China-based Hainan Airlines could be ordering up to 20 Airbus A330-900 aircraft with no set delivery date. The filing said that the carrier’s board of directors approved the purchase of aircraft kitchen equipment for the A330-900.
No operating A330-900s
The company filed the document on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) on March 30, 2024. As first reported by ch-aviation, the filing said that the airline’s board of directors approved the purchase of 20 aircraft cabin kitchen equipment sets from Safran Cabin Germany during its 20th meeting of the 10th board of directors.
According to the airline, the kitchen equipment will be used to assemble the airline’s aircraft, with the transaction for the 20 sets amounting to no more than $23.5 million. All 12 directors approved the measure, with the filing adding that the final transaction price would be negotiated between the parties.
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Additionally, the Chinese carrier plans to lease a further four examples of the type.
No set delivery date
In another filing detailing the equipment purchase, Hainan Airlines reiterated that the purchase price of the sets is at most $23.5 million, with no concrete delivery dates for the items. However, the buyer – Hainan Airlines – will issue a written purchase order for each set of kitchen equipment with the delivery date.
Hainan Airlines currently has no Airbus A330-900 aircraft in its fleet, having never ordered the type. Still, the Chinese carrier has 29 Airbus A330s, split between the A330-200 (four active, five inactive) and the A330-300 (all 20 active), ch-aviation data showed.
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock
It has previously operated the Airbus A350-900. However, when its former parent company, HNA Group, entered financial hardship that culminated in the dissolution of the conglomerate in December 2021, the airline phased out eight A350-900s between January 2019 and August 2023. A sole A350-900, registered as B-308G, remains in the airline’s fleet, with planespotters.net data showing that the aircraft should be delivered to Thai Airways International (THAI).
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Kick-starting A330neo orders in 2024
If Hainan Airlines were to confirm an order for up to 20 Airbus A330-900 aircraft, which could be much less since, for example, Delta Air Lines has configured its A330-900s with seven galleys, according to the carrier’s site, it would be the first A330neo order in 2024.
So far in 2024, Airbus has only added three Airbus A350 orders to its official backlog: one Delta Air Lines purchase agreement for 20 A350-1000, an Ethiopian Airlines order for 11 A350-900, and an undisclosed customer buying two A350-900 aircraft, as of February 29, 2024.
Photo: Airbus
The European plane maker announced several orders from different airlines, including American Airlines, Breeze Airways, EVA Air, Korean Air, Vietjet, and STARLUX, in 2024. However, Breeze Airways’ order for ten A220-300 aircraft could have been disclosed in December 2023 under an unidentified customer, as was EVA Air’s order, which was assigned to the airline when Airbus disclosed its last year’s orders & delivery numbers.
Meanwhile, Vietjet only signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for 20 A330neo aircraft, which must still be firmed up. Korean Air affirmed its order for 33 Airbus A350 family aircraft on April 2, meaning that the order will not be visible in the manufacturer’s filings in due time.
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Lessors’ backlog
At the same time, Airbus booked 37 orders for the A330neo, split between one for A330-800 and 36 A330-900. However, customers canceled 29 orders for the A330-900, leaving the manufacturer with only two aircraft of the type being added to its backlog.
Ch-aviation data showed that there are 19 lessors that own and/or manage Airbus A330-900 aircraft, including BOC Aviation, a subsidiary of the Bank of China group. BOC Aviation has seven delivered A330-900s, with no additional orders for the widebody aircraft.
Photo: Airbus
However, there are 54 unassigned A330-900s that have not been delivered to carriers, meaning that some lessors still have spare delivery slots for airlines to take over, possibly hinting that Hainan Airlines could also turn to an operational lease to get its hands on Airbus A330-900 aircraft.
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