Cathay to phase out A340s and 747s

Hong Kong's all-widebody-operator Cathay Pacific is to phase out part of its fleet of Boeing 747-400s and all of its A340-300s in 2016 and 2017, as part of its fleet renewal plan. The airline announced that it intends to sell six of its B747-400Fs back to Boeing with four of them already parked. Four passenger 747-400s are also to be retired with two of them having been withdrawn from service this month.

A350s and A330s replace Iberia A340s

International Airlines Group (IAG - British Airways, Iberia, Vueling) has converted eight Airbus A350-900 options into firm orders for Iberia. The airline becomes a new customer for the fast-selling A350XWB Family.

Air Mauritius chooses Airbus A350-900

Air Mauritius, the flag carrier of Mauritius, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for four Airbus A350-900 aircraft. The agreement was announced during the Farnborough Airshow. The airline also announced that it is going to lease two more A350-900s. The six A350 XWBs will be operated on European, Asian and Australian routes.

Air Mauritius currently operates Airbus A330-200 and A340-300 aircraft on its intercontinental network.

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A340 freighter without a cargo door?

A freighter airliner without a main-deck cargo door? That is what LCF Converions and ACE Corp propose for the Airbus A340. Instead of using a main-deck cargo door freight can be loaded by the existing lower deck cargo doors and lifted 'upstairs' to the main deck by internal lifts. The lifts can be used as load-bearing floor during flight, so no space is lost within the fuselage.
This concept avoids the need to make any changes to the external structure of the aircraft, nor will it need any changes to the main deck floor (other than those needed to accommodate the fore and aft lifts). The cost of converting an A340-300 is only US$ 6.5 million, including the loading system. The A340-300 seems very suitable for this concept. There are enough secondhand A340-300s around against attractive prices. The A340-300LCF would have about the same cargo volume as a Boeing 767-300ERF, but has a better payload range capability. Later, the concept could also be applied to the later A340 models, and to various versions of the Boeing 777, which is still expensive on the second hand market. More: read here.

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