TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空), which started trading its shares on the emerging stock market on Friday, said yesterday it had ordered two Airbus A330-300 aircraft and six A321-200 planes to meet future demand and increase competitiveness.
The Taipei-based carrier said in a statement it had recently signed a firm order with Airbus SAS of France and expects to take the first delivery of the aircraft in 2012.
TransAsia currently operates a fleet of 16 aircraft, including two Airbus A320-232s, five A321-131s and nine ATR72s.
FIRST IN FLEET
The two A330-300 aircraft will become the first wide-body planes in the carrier’s fleet as TransAsia looks to take advantage of the fast-expanding cross-strait flight business.
“Deliveries of the two A330-300 aircraft are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012 and in the first quarter of 2013 respectively, and they will be used primarily on medium and long-haul regional flights between Taipei and major Asian cities,” TransAsia said in the statement.
“Deliveries of the six A321-200 aircraft will start from 2014 to 2016, and they will join the existing seven Airbus planes serving international and cross-strait flights,” it said.
It is still unknown who will build engines for the new Airbus aircraft TransAsia is buying. Potential engine makers include General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce.
TransAsia had been assessing the need for a newer fleet as early as 2006 in a bid to enhance competitiveness and adjust capacity effectively.
HIGH-SPEED SPLASH
However, the start of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp’s (台灣高鐵) operations in 2007 and the unfavorable market situation because of such factors as higher fuel prices and declining market demand in 2008 forced the carrier to put its new fleet plans on hold.
The expansion of direct flights between Taiwan and China last year, however, offered the company a needed source of revenue and passenger traffic.
TransAsia said this allowed it to start retiring planes and ordering new aircraft as well as offering more flights to China and regional markets to generate higher revenue.
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