In recent news, Fijian Minister for Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka has announced that Fiji Airways are expecting the delivery of two more Airbus A350-900 aircraft to their fleet.
The airline has seen record bookings since travel restrictions lifted, and has surpassed 2019 numbers. It now aims to boost its fleet numbers.
The airline currently operates two Airbus A350-900 aircraft, which compliments their widebody fleet alongside the four Airbus A330 aircraft in service.
The acquisition details
Fijian Minister of Civil Aviation, Viliame Gavoka has recently spoken at the launch of the Tourism Investment Summit, mentioning the national carrier of Fiji Airways are seeing record numbers in bookings, surpassing the 2019 statistics.
Resulting from this, Mr. Gavoka announced the flag carrier, Fiji Airways, is expecting further two Airbus A350-900 aircraft in order to boost capacity of the carrier.
Fiji Airways will then operate a total of eight widebody Airbus aircraft, giving a fleet at four A350-900 aircraft and 4 Airbus A330-200/300 aircraft, and providing the airline with a greater capacity.
According to local news source Fiji Live, Mr. Gavoka reportedly said Fiji has been seeing exceptional travel numbers from Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and is soon expecting a gradual return of the Asian market, with restrictions being greatly lifted.
Statements
Mr. Gavoka stated the following on the national carrier’s upcoming boost to the greater Asian and Pacific region market:
“This week, Fiji will welcome back twice-weekly flights between Nadi and Hong Kong, following which Fiji Airways will fly to Narita, Japan and Seoul, South Korea.”
Mr. Gavoka also mentioned that balancing supply and demand of a service industry is not easy, and whether a destination does well or not in the market, makes all the difference.
He also adds the governments commitment to fostering an environment conducive to investment, innovation and sustainable growth, to which he concluded:
“To achieve this, the Government will remove barriers to investment that paves the way for private sector-led recovery.”
The A350 – a great choice
The Airbus A350 has without doubt made its mark in the books of aviation as being a great widebody aircraft.
As of February 28 it has seen a total of 524 deliveries and 948 orders across the type, which is spread across the A350-900XWB, the A350-1000 and the anticipated A350F – the freighter version of the type.
With known operators being Qatar Airways, Finnair, Air France, Cathay Pacific and more, the Airbus A350 provides a fuel efficient solution for the operators, along with reduced noise emissions, thus increasing passenger comfort.
With the airframe being made of over 70% advanced materials and powered by the Rolls Royce Trent XWB series engines, the configurations can range across three cabins, seat up to 410 passengers and fly a long range of 9,700 nautical miles.
The A350 family saw 54 orders in 2022, but totalled to 44 as 10 orders were cancelled, and has as of February 28, seen 23 orders of the A350-1000 by Qatar Airways, being the only order logged so far in 2023.
Overall, the A350 family proves itself to be an efficient and popular choice for the customers, and with a freighter version on the way, the A350 might become a more popular choice for customers specifying in cargo hauling.
