It seems that the Airbus A350 is still a hit with airlines, as Air China is adding another 20 Airbus A350-900s to its fleet
Air China Airbus A350-900 – Image, Airbus
The order will involve 20 frames – increasing the Air China fleet to 30 A350 family aircraft.
Air China has placed an order for 20 Airbus A350-900s. At list prices, this transaction is worth US$6.54 million. Of course, no one pays list price for aircraft, with the airline noting it had “significant price concessions” from the airframer. The airline has options of converting the last five to the larger A350-1000 variant if the airline requires.
The new aircraft deliveries are due to commence in 2020, running through to 2022.
Air China will be funded through the Company’s own fund, commercial bank loans and other financing methods – with no expected impact on the cash flow. and business. According to the airline, the new aircraft are being ordered to replace older frames, as well as strength capacity by 9.7%.
More follow-on orders
Air China Airbus A350-900 Sharklet – Image, Airbus
More follow-on orders are welcome – if for anything it is a vote of confidence for an airframer to get a customer to come back and add more of the same aircraft for its fleet.
With the Airbus A350 becoming more common with long haul carriers (and the ramp-up in production), we will see more A350s in the air and carriers adapting the aircraft to different routes, capacities and strengths.
And for Airbus, more orders are always a welcome thing to see – especially for their wide-body aircraft range.
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