Hong Kong Airlines is eyeing Boeing 787 Dreamliner for its long-haul, US-bound flights in 2018, the South China Morning Post reports. The currently all-Airbus airline intends to step up its fleet using a different aircraft provider to compete on the long-haul market with such rivals as Cathay Pacific.
“To fly long haul, we have to introduce new aircraft. Right now we are still all-Airbus, but … if we are talking to Boeing about 787s … that [is a] possibility,” said George Liu, Hong Kong Airlines Chief Marketing Officer told the South China Morning Post.
Currently, the carrier operates an all-Airbus fleet, consisted of 35 aircraft. 31 passenger aircraft includes ten Airbus A330-300s, nine Airbus A330-200s, eleven Airbus A320s and one Airbus A350-900, while four freighters are Airbus A330-200Fs.
The announcement adds up to increasing Boeing victories against Airbus in the wide-body market, following the latest announcement by Singapore Airlines that are to finalize the purchase agreement for 39 Boeing aircraft this week. In 2017, Airbus reported 271 orders while Boeing announced almost double as much – 498.