GUY NORRIS / SEATTLE
Manufacturer also looks for home for ex-Air China and Malaysia Airlines 747s and 737s
Boeing Aircraft Trading (BAT) is "beginning intensive" talks with prospective customers to sell the next batch of five ex-Singapore Airlines (SIA) Airbus A340-300s, following the recent completion of deals for the first five with Cathay Pacific and Khalifa Airways.
"We are talking in the marketplace over the next five [aircraft], and we are looking at additional landmark deals this year," says BAT president Dinesh Keskar. BAT is also scouring the market for customers for two ex-Air China Boeing 747-400s that it took in trade in October, two Malaysia Airlines (MAS) -400s and two "white tail" Boeing 737-700s, originally destined for Midway Airlines.
Describing the Khalifa Airways deal, first revealed in Flight International (13-19 November 2001), as "one of the highlights of the year for our organisation", Keskar says the company ultimately plans to sell all 17 ex-SIA A340s over a four-year period. "We will be phasing them so there is no glut in the market. We are trying to play fair, and we have to ensure a careful balance," he adds.
As part of an earlier sale of 777s to SIA, Boeing agreed to buy back the A340s if the Singapore carrier did not sell them first. The first three ex-SIA aircraft placed with Cathay are on three-year leases, while the exact terms of the lease with Khalifa for two aircraft are not known. The Algeria-based carrier, which has three A340-500s on firm order direct from Airbus, has also ordered a 777 full-flight simulator from CAE of Canada. Speculation is mounting that the deal is part of Boeing's wider strategy to gain a market foothold with established Airbus customers by placing the ex-SIA A340s with them, the intention ultimately being to secure follow-on orders for the 777 200LR/300ER.
Keskar acknowledges that Boeing had to overhaul and refurbish the CFM International CFM56-5C4 engines of the ex-SIA aircraft to meet Cathay's requirements. Boeing has contracted Lufthansa Technik to maintain the aircraft. "We certainly know a lot more about the A340 than we did before," he says.
Disposal of the ex-Air China 747-400s stored at Marana, Arizona, is proving difficult in the present economic climate, says Keskar who is more hopeful over faster disposal of the 737s in storage at Victorville, California. The manufacturer is also remarketing two MAS 747-400s which are available for delivery from early this year.
Source: Flight International
