Hong Kong Airlines is tipped to announce an order for Airbus A380s at next week’s Paris Air Show, says Bloomberg.
The carrier, controlled by the investment arm of China’s Hainan province government, will be the third new A380 customer this year, following Skymark Airlines and Asiana Airlines.
Hong Kong Air expects to double passenger numbers to four million this year as it adds planes and taps China’s rising travel, president Yang Jianhong said recently.
The carrier has a less than 10 percent share of Hong Kong’s outbound travel market, Royal Bank of Scotland Group said at the time.
The airline will be the second in Greater China to order the A380. Airbus is due to deliver the first superjumbo to China Southern Airlines later this year.
Cathay Pacific has so far ruled out ordering A380s and is instead building its long-haul fleet with smaller planes. It ordered 15 Airbus A330-300s and 10 Boeing 777-300ERs in March, following an agreement for 30 A350s in August.
“We’ll probably have another good look at big aircraft in the next one or two years,†CEO John Slosar said last week in Singapore at the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting.
