Air Pacific New A/C plans?

[travellerqff]

Air Pacific originally had some A333's on order to replace the sole B763 - but scrapped that order for eight B789's, which now too, have been cancelled.

I am aware that they are leasing a new B738 later this month due to the B763 being retired soon. But what is the long term plan? All their aircraft are old and tacky, and it's been a few years since I've flown them too.



Apologies if I'm repeating a thread.

 

[docjames]

Their recent a/c (744) was iirc ex-SQ and I saw online a rumour that the 744 will eventually be replaced by an ex-SQ 772.

Whether that goes ahead given SQ are now planning to use the 772s for their LCC I'm not so sure.

I'd have thought the 330 would be an ideal aircraft for the majority of their medium haul routes, with either a 320 or 738 for the shorter-haul / lower capacity routes. The 763 is a great aircraft for the medium-haul routes and routes not needing the 744 capacity so a couple of those would be reasonable, however the one they have / had is reknowned as a bit of a lemon (goes u/s all the time).

I also heard of some (relatively high level) management changes, whether this affects the fleet planning I'm not sure.

FJ dont have the money for all those 788s so i'm sure they're happy to be out of them.

In my dream, it'd be ATRs for the intra-island flights, with 738s and 763s for the remainder. Balance of cost and capability. One of their issues is the somewhat seasonal demand, so whether a lease arrangement on another a/c during peak season would work for them would be an interesting way to go to allow scaling of fleet during high/low demand times. Rather than owning the a/c and under-utilising it.

 

[Tawita]

Looks like they've gone back to the A330s.

Fiji’s national airline Air Pacific today announced that it has ordered three new Airbus A330-200 aircraft to replace its current fleet of B747 and B767 aircraft.

These brand new, highly capable, long-haul aircraft will begin arriving in early 2013, and they will be operated on flights to Fiji from Sydney, Auckland, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. (link)

 

[travellerqff]

Looks like they've gone back to the A330s.

Love it love it love it!

 

[lovestotravel]

So replacing 2 x 744 and 1 x 763 which combined have 1152 seats to 3 x A330 with about 900 seats...

Sad but might mean they make some $$$ in the future....

 

[docjames]

Great news, definitely the right aircraft for them. Should hold freight ok too.

 

[Austman]

Pics now on the airpacific.com website. They will be brand new aircraft: