Summary
- Hong Kong Airlines expands its fleet with an Airbus A321 for increased capacity on Asian routes.
- Increased resources from new aircraft allow Hong Kong Airlines to introduce new routes and adapt to market shifts.
Last Friday, Hong Kong Airlines operated its first Airbus A321 flight from Hong Kong to Bangkok, using an aircraft registered to the airline in late April. While the A321 is a new addition to the Hong Kong Airlines fleet, it is certainly not a new aircraft; it was delivered to its first operator, Vietnam Airlines, in May 2010.
The new addition is in action
In April, Airbus delivered fifty-one A320 family and Boeing sixteen 737s narrowbodies for a monthly total of 67, against a combined backlog of 11,517 for the two narrowbodies, so finding a new aircraft is not easy. After some horrendous years, airlines need to grab all the demand out there, but many are missing out because they can’t find new or used aircraft to give them the extra capacity they need.
Photo: Hong Kong Airlines
Hong Kong Airlines (HX) said it now operates a fleet of 21 jets, including Airbus A330, A320 and A321 aircraft. It also plans to increase that to 28 operational aircraft by the end of 2024 but does not say if that means new aircraft or returning some of its inactive jets to service.
More capacity for expansion
According to ch-aviation, the airline already has a fleet of 28 aircraft, with twelve A320-200s, one A321-200 and seven A330-300s in service and five A330-200s and three A330-300s inactive. Those minor differences in precise fleet numbers are common as airlines move aircraft in and out of service for maintenance or network planning reasons.
Photo: Hong Kong Airlines
Back to the recent addition and the first flight with Hong Kong Airlines on May 24, 2024. The Airbus A321-200, registration B-LPR and MSN 04315 departed Hong Kong International (HKG) as flight HX775 at 14:54 and, after a 2:33-hour flight, landed in Thailand at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport (BKK) at 16:27.
The Airbus A320 then departed Bangkok at 17:47 and was back on the ground in Hong Kong at 21:02. According to the tracking data from Flightradar24, the aircraft has flown the same return trip from May 24 to May 28, with only one rotation daily.
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The airline said the addition of the Airbus A321, configured in an all-economy layout of 220 seats, joins the existing fleet of A330s and A320s to strengthen its network capacity on medium and short-haul routes across Asia. It will give Hong Kong Airlines the extra resources to introduce new routes and the flexibility to cope with market changes as they impact or when opportunities appear.
The A321 was first registered to Vietnam Airlines as VN-A367. After spending 12 years in service, it was withdrawn and stored between February 2022 and May 2024, when it arrived at Hong Kong Airlines to be re-registered as B-LPR. When unveiled for the first flight, the carrier said it had an elegant grey cabin that reflects a contemporary and stylish design, with ‘extra legroom’ seats that maintain 115 degrees of recline.
Hong Kong Airlines was established in 2006 and describes itself as a full-service carrier firmly rooted in Hong Kong. It operates close to 30 destinations across Asia-Pacific, including Jakarta and Bali in Indonesia, Sapporo and Tokyo in Japan, Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, Beijing and Shanghai in China and Male, Hanoi, Taipei, Vientiane and Seoul.
Have you been at Hong Kong International Airport this year? Tell us about it in the comments.