Hainan Airlines has taken delivery of its first Airbus A330-900, becoming the type’s newest Asian operator.
The aircraft, registered B-32MU, is also China’s first A330neo. It arrived at Hainan’s Haikou hub on 1 November following a 13h sortie from Airbus’ Toulouse facility.
The aircraft will be “smoothly integrated into its A330ceo fleet” and will play a “key role” in domestic and international operations, states Airbus.
Hainan has 29 A330ceos in its fleet, on top of 10 A320neo family jets. Earlier this year, the airline took delivery of its first A321neo.
Hainan’s A330neo is configured to seat 301 passengers in a two-class setting: 24 in business class and 277 in economy class.
The aircraft will feature new cabin products – dubbed ‘Dream Feather’ – including four-abreast lie-flat seats in business class. The carrier did not disclose its seat supplier, except to say that the seats were “produced domestically”.
Hainan says the new aircraft will be initially deployed on its international network, with a focus on flights to Oceania, Europe and the Middle East. It also raised the possibility of deploying the A330neos on domestic trunk routes, especially on flights between its twin hubs of Haikou and Beijing.
According to data from aviation analytics company Cirium, Hainan has another three A330-900s on order.
Other A330neo operators in Asia include Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Malaysia Airlines. Airbus also has orders for the A330neo from airlines like Vietjet and Cathay Pacific.
