Heavy speculation this week about the future of Cathay Pacific's long-haul fleet plans came to an end this morning with an announcement by the Hong Kong-based carrier to order 30 A350-900 and six 777-300ER aircraft. When firmed, the A350 backlog will grow to 565 orders.Every so often in this industry, an order comes along that could be considered a "game changer", a moment that causes the players to stand up and evaluate the course of an aircraft program. It was seen when Singapore airlines ditched the MD-11 in favor of the A340-300 (pdf archive), and again when it ditched the A340-300 in favor of the 777. The 1996 United A320 deal was of the same ilk, with Boeing opting to launch the 737 Next Generation family in the face of growing narrowbody competition from Airbus.
Is this order cut from the same cloth? Will an A350-900 order of this magnitude sway Boeing's thinking on how to address the future of the 777? Is Cathay's order for the -300ER and not the A350-1000 also telling? Did Cathay seeing the -1000 the same way as Emirates' Tim Clark does?
Photo Credit Airbus
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