Hawaiian Airlines to add two new Airbus A330s

HONOLULU – In a significant first step of its long-range fleet plan, Hawaiian Airlines today announced the acquisition of two new wide-body Airbus A330-200 aircraft that will accelerate the start of the company’s transition to a new Airbus fleet to 2011.

The two jets are in addition to the agreement that Hawaiian announced earlier this year to purchase up to 24 new Airbus aircraft.

Mark Dunkerley, Hawaiian’s president and CEO, said, “These additional aircraft underscore Hawaiian’s commitment to future growth and to reaching new markets globally, which will be a huge plus for Hawaii travelers and for the long-term health and diversity of Hawaii’s tourism industry.”

The two A330s are being leased from AWAS and are scheduled to join Hawaiian’s fleet in the first and second quarters of 2011, respectively. Hawaiian also announced a separate agreement with AWAS to extend to 2011 the leases of two Boeing 767-300ER jets currently in the fleet. The newly leased A330s will ultimately replace the B767s with the extended leases.

The wide-body, twin-aisle A330-200 seats 298 passengers in a two-class configuration and has an operating range of 5,500 nautical miles, which is significantly farther than Hawaiian’s current fleet of B767-300ER aircraft. With the A330-200, Hawaiian will increase its seating capacity, improve its fuel efficiency, and have the ability to provide nonstop service to all of North America and eastern Asia.

In February, Hawaiian signed a purchase agreement with Airbus to acquire six A330-200 aircraft and six A350XWB-800 (Extra Wide-Body) aircraft direct from the manufacturer, with purchase rights for an additional six A330-200s and six A350XWB-800s.

The first deliveries of A330s under Hawaiian’s purchase agreement with Airbus will join the fleet in 2012, with the A350s scheduled for delivery starting in 2017. The purchase agreement has a total list-price value of approximately $4.4 billion if the purchase rights to all 24 aircraft are exercised.