Cathay Pacific introduces super long-range Airbus

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific took delivery of the first of six long-range A340-300 airliners from Airbus Industrie's headquarters in Toulouse, France, last week. On Cathay's invitation, The Jakarta Post's Pandaya covered the delivery and hitched a ride on the aircraft's Toulouse-Hongkong maiden flight. This is his report.

TOULOUSE, France (JP): As part of its US$9 billion replacement program to prepare for 2000, Cathay Pacific has added two state- of-the-art passenger aircraft to its fleet, the Airbus A330 and A340.

The purchase of the 261-seat aircraft makes Cathay Pacific, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the first airline in the world to have these airliners.

The aircraft join the nine twin-engine A330-300s and four smaller A340-200s at Cathay Pacific, which currently has 58 aircraft -- 39 of which are Boeings.

Under the fleet replacement program, the airline has placed firm orders and options for more than 60 wide-bodied aircraft up to the year 2000.

The aim is to replace the Lockheed L1011 TriStar, the three- engined, 280-seat aircraft that became Cathay Pacific's backbone in the 1980s.

Cathay Pacific's A330s, and its Boeing 777s, replace its Lockheed L1011 TriStars. They will serve those regional routes for which the Boeings would be too big and inefficient.

"The A340 can do this, but its main purpose is to serve nonstop long-haul routes," said Rod Eddington, Cathay Pacific's managing director.

In 1989, Cathay Pacific signed an order for nine Airbus A330- 300s for delivery in 1995/1996 to replace its fleet of 17 TriStars. It took the first delivery of an A330-300 last year and the rest are expected to be delivered by next year.

The airlines placed an order for six A340-300s in late 1993. Until it took the first delivery last week, it had been leasing four smaller A340-200s for two years.

The brand new wide-bodied A340-300 airliner can fly non-stop 14,500-kilometer services, linking Hong Kong with Toronto, Melbourne, Zurich, Rome, Taipei, Jakarta, Nagoya, Sapporo and Osaka.

"People want a frequent non-stop service. The economics of the A340 allow us to serve destinations competitively that are not commercially viable with other equipment. It enables us to offer customers a good choice of destinations," Eddington said.

Cathay Pacific's A340-300 is configured with 12 first class seats, 28 business class seats and 221 seats in the economy class.

The first class features fully reclining sleeper seats with 74-inch pitches between rows. The business class is divided into two areas with 50-inch pitches, and the economy class has 32-inch pitches.

The airline's A340-300 is among the first fitted with personal television systems, or PTVs, in all classes. Airline officials said the company will spend about US$150 million on fitting personal television sets into its fleet by next year.

The personal TVs have nine channels, offering Asian feature films, Hollywood action flicks and "Cathay Kids", classic children's films and cartoons.

Cantonese and Mandarin films are dubbed into English. Cathay Pacific claims to be the first to screen Hollywood films dubbed into Cantonese.

For air-to-ground telecommunications, the A340-300 aircraft has six telephones and one fax machine, operated by the Cabin crew upon request.

The A330 and A340 aircraft's long, thin flexible wings and the onboard systems are designed to help dampen noise and absorb turbulence.

"This aircraft give passengers possibly the smoothest ride on any aircraft today," Eddington enthused.

Airbus Industrie, the world's second-largest passenger aircraft maker after Boeing, touts the A340-300 as the quietest, most comfortable, fuel efficient and environmentally friendly airliner in the sky.

"The loudest noise you'll hear is cabin crew chatting behind you," quipped Tony Hellyer, Cathay Pacific product manager.