Aircalin Orders Airbus A350-900: Fascinating
Intro
Aircalin has just announced that they have ordered a new long-haul jet, and I have to say this is one of the strangest moves we have seen in aviation. Before getting into it, Aircalin, for those unfamiliar, is the national flag carrier of New Caledonia, operating flights around the South Pacific as well as Bangkok, Singapore, Paris, Australia, New Zealand, and French Polynesia. With that being said, Aircalin has long talked about flying direct from Noumea (their base) to Paris, but this A350-900 wouldn't quite have the range..
The Details
Aircalin has just announced that it has ordered 2 Airbus A350-900s but interestignly, this order has been placed for a little bit of time. Details of these two jets have been very scarce, but we do know that the airline plans to configure the jet with business class, premium economy, and economy with a total fof 320 seats.
At the moment, Aircalin currently operates two A330-900neos as their longhaul fleet, primarily flying to Singapore, Sydney, and Bangkok-Paris. This order represents a 100% increase in their widebody fleet bringing the total up to four.
At the moment, that is pretty much all we know. The CEO of Aircalin states that these jets will be delviered in the next few years, but that is about it...
Potential Routes/My Thoughts
I'm not quite sure why Aircalin has decided to place an order for two Airbus A350-900s. At the moment, Aircalin has been struggling to make any new routes work, as they have cut their Tokyo route and decided to focus on transporting passengers from the French mainland to New Caledonia.
Supposedly Aircalin wants to be able to fly direct from Noumea to Paris (cutting out the stop in BKK), but no aircraft at the moment is able to operate the almost 11,000 mile flight. Even the SQ A350 ULR can only operate up to just under 10K miles.
But here is where it gets even more interesting. The airline has yet to launch a long-haul flight that has been profitable. My opinion is that they should figure out how to turn their A330-900neos profitable before spending more money on widebody jets. Het, but what do I know?
Final Thoughts
Aircalin has just announced the order of two Airbus A350-900s coming soon to their fleet (in the next few years). While details remain scarce, we do know that these jets will feature 320 seats in a 3 class layout. In additio, these jets will be delopyed on the Noumea to Paris route, but the question remains if they will attempt to fly nonstop, or continue with the stopover in Bangkok...
Comments