Hawaiian Airlines orders Another New Airbus A330

Hawaiian Airlines has ordered another new wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft which will join two other A330s ordered two weeks ago. The company has also negotiated delivery of two of the new aircraft in the second quarter of 2010 – beginning Hawaiian’s transition to a new long-range fleet two years earlier than originally planned.

Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, said, “These commitments to increasing the size of our fleet and to bringing the new aircraft to Hawaii two years earlier than planned deepen Hawaiian’s already substantial investment in our home state and its economy. This is great news for the future of our company, our employees, and Hawaii’s visitor industry.”

The three new A330s are in addition to firm orders Hawaiian signed in February for 12 new Airbus aircraft. The most recent A330 acquisition is being leased from CIT; the other two are being leased from AWAS. The CIT aircraft and one of the AWAS aircraft will join the fleet in 2010, with the other AWAS aircraft joining the fleet in 2011.

The wide-body, twin-aisle Airbus A330-200 seats 298 passengers in a two-class configuration and has an operating range of 6,050 nautical miles, allowing Hawaiian to fly significantly farther nonstop than what is allowed by its current fleet of Boeing 767-300ER aircraft.

Hawaiian’s A330 aircraft will have the ability to fly nonstop to all of North America and points in eastern Asia, while offering increased seating capacity and improved fuel efficiency at the same time.

In February, Hawaiian signed a purchase agreement with Airbus to acquire six A330-200 aircraft and six A350XWB-800 (Extra Wide-Body) aircraft direct from the manufacturer, with purchase rights for an additional six A330-200s and six A350XWB-800s.

The first deliveries of A330s under Hawaiian’s purchase agreement with Airbus will join the fleet in 2012, with the A350s scheduled for delivery starting in 2017. The purchase agreement has a total list price value of approximately $4.4 billion if the purchase rights to all 24 aircraft are exercised.

See other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Promotions, New Hotels, Hawaii, Hawaiian Airlines, Airbus