Hainan Airlines Company Limited (HNA), a subsidiary of the HNA Group, based in China, has taken delivery of its first A330 on lease from CIT Aerospace. The aircraft powered by Rolls Royce Trent 700 engines was handed over to the HNA Chairman, Mr. CHEN Feng in a ceremony held in Toulouse.
The aircraft will seat 222 passengers in a two-class configuration.
The HNA Group, the fourth largest aviation group in China, comprises Hainan Airlines, Xinhua Airlines, Changan Airlines, Shanxi Airlines and is now setting up its Grand China Air. The group currently operates 12 A319s and has 98 Airbus aircraft on order.
“Today is a remarkable day in the continuous, fast and healthy development of our airline and marks an important step for our future success. This new aircraft in service will allow us to expand services to major business and leisure destinations across China and to offer new routes, benefiting from the aircraft’s unique operational costs savings while providing our passengers with an optimal travel comfort” said Mr. CHEN Feng, Chairman of HNA Group.
“We are delighted that Airbus is a part of HNA Group’s rapid growth and are proud of their choice for the A330-200 to further extend their success. This reflects again the advantages that the A330 offers in terms of route efficiency and passenger comfort in addition to the commonality with the A320 Family aircraft already in service within the group. All of us at Airbus wish Hainan Airlines and HNA Group a very bright future”, said Fabrice Bregier, Airbus Chief Operating Officer.
HNA was established in 1993 and currently operates on trunk routes, regional routes and business charter services to more than 90 destinations.
The A330/A340 is a unique family of six true wide-body aircraft models with capacities covering 253 to 380 seats, regional to ultra long haul passenger markets and the 64-69 tonne cargo market. The A330-200 can fly distances up to 6,750 nm / 12,500 km with a full passenger load.
With a true wide-body fuselage allowing very high comfort standards, the A330-200 is able to accommodate seat and class configurations to suit the diverse customer requirements. Its large under-floor cargo holds can also carry standard pallets and containers side-by-side. It also has the excellent operational flexibility necessary to serve a wide range of route structures, providing operators with very low operating cost per seat. Its proven record of economy and superior passenger comfort provides operators with a significant competitive advantage in the market today.
The A330/A340 family benefit from Airbus’ unique cockpit and operational commonality. All aircraft share the same cockpit philosophy which helps shorten training times for flight crews transitioning from one Airbus aircraft to another, streamlined maintenance procedures and reduced spare parts holdings. High levels of passenger comfort are a hallmark of the passenger models, as is a consistently high level of operational efficiency.
Photo: Airbus S.A.S. 2007 ©
