Cathay Orders 14 More Airbus Jets As Its A330-900 Commitment Grows To 41

Credit: Airbus / Simple Flying Published Nov 11, 2026, 11:58 AM EST Holding a degree in Aerospace Technology, Tom is a certified pilot and a passionate specialist in European aviation. As Content Manager of Simple Flying, he leads the content team overseeing all aspects of Simple Flying's daily output. Tom works closely with airlines around the world to provide topical content and has provided commentary for other outlets, including the BBC. Based in Frankfurt, Germany. Sign in to your Simple Flying account European aircraft manufacturer Airbus today revealed that the Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific has increased its order for A330-900 and A321 aircraft. The airline confirmed 14 more orders, including 11 A330s, bringing its total commitment for the widebody type to 41 jets. The airline also added orders for three more A321s. In the aircraft sales war, Airbus and Boeing are constantly competing to announce orders from their airline customers. Both major planemakers have sizeable backlogs for their narrowbody and widebody programmes. Despite this, they are both still keen to add orders to these backlogs. Cathay Pacific Orders More A330-900s Credit: Simple Flying In a press release issued earlier today, Airbus said the Cathay Group had bolstered its commitment to the A330 family. The group added 11 firm orders to its existing order for the largest member of the A330neo family, the A330-900. The airline already had 30 on order, bringing its total to 41 of the type. Commenting on the order, Cathay Pacific's Chief Operations and Service Delivery Officer Alex McGowan revealed that the additional aircraft will be used to expand and upgrade the existing fleet, with some replacing older types and others serving as additional new aircraft. This sentiment was echoed by Benoit de Saint-Exupéry, Airbus EVP Sales, Commercial Aircraft. "Together the A330-900 and A321neo aircraft give the airline the flexibility to match capacity to demand, bringing versatility while benefiting from lower fuel burn and the efficiencies of a streamlined Airbus fleet. We are proud to support the Cathay Group through its exciting next stage of fleet renewal and growth." The Cathay Pacific Fleet Is Growing Credit: Simple Flying According to data from ch-aviation, Cathay Pacific currently has 181 aircraft, of which 14 are inactive. Excluding the new order announced today, the airline has 100 aircraft on order. The airline's order book looks as follows: Aircraft Existing Orders New Orders Total Airbus A321 27 3 30 Airbus A330-900 30 11 41 Airbus A350F 8 8 Boeing 777-9 35 35 Total 100 14 114 The airline currently has 18 A321 aircraft, 17 of which are listed as active. All 30 still on order will then presumably be used to increase the size of the fleet, which has an average age of just 3.6 years. The story is slightly different for the Airbus A330. No A330-900s have been delivered yet, and the airline has 43 older-generation A330-300s, six of which are listed as inactive. With this in mind, the Airbus A330-900 order is likely more geared towards replacing the A330-300s, which have an average age of 18.2 years. The oldest aircraft type in the fleet is the Boeing 777-300. 14 of these aircraft are listed as active, with an average age of 25.3 years. The incoming Boeing 777-9 will likely help replace this sub-fleet. Where Cathay Pacific Flies The Airbus A330 Credit: Data: Cirium / Graphic: Simple Flying Despite being a widebody aircraft, Cathay Pacific typically flies the Airbus A330 on shorter legs. According to schedule data from Cirium, the A330's top route from Hong Kong is to Taipei (TPE). This is a flight that takes less than two hours. Looking at the map above, you'll see that other than a single trip to Perth (PER) and a handful of trips to Cairns (CNS), all of the A330 flights this year have remained within Asia. The airline is using its larger widebodies for longer-distance flights. For example, when you look at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) and New York JFK Airport (JFK), flights have been operated by the Boeing 777-300ER, the Airbus A350-900 and the Airbus A350-1000. Frankfurt Airport (FRA) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), meanwhile, have only seen the Boeing 777-300ER this year.