Hong Kong Airlines is studying introducing second-hand Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to resume its intercontinental flights, which were suspended in February 2020.
The Hong Kong carrier began transpacific operations in June 2016 with non-stop service to San Francisco, followed by Vancouver and Los Angeles in 2017. Due to the company’s financial problems at the time, long-haul operations were suspended in February 2020; subsequently, the fleet of Airbus A350s used for intercontinental markets was sold to other airline operators.
HNA Group’s airline plans to add at least three 787 aircraft to revive its services to North America by 2025, Hong Kong Airlines CEO Jeff Jianfeng reported to Bloomberg. The airline is evaluating Vancouver, Los Angeles, Toronto and Seattle, the latter two of which would be new markets for the carrier.
Currently, the airlines offering flights between Hong Kong and North America are United Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways and Air Canada. Before the pandemic, Singapore Airlines operated from San Francisco and American Airlines from Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles.
The intention to resume long-haul flights comes on the heels of Hong Kong’s $49 billion debt restructuring in 2022, a debt that included the costs of its failed attempt to reach intercontinental markets, a move nearly bankrupted the airline. Due to financial difficulties, the airline had to retire much of its 53 aircraft fleet.
The acquisition of second-hand aircraft would turn the airline, which currently has a fleet of exclusively Airbus aircraft, into a new operator of Boeing wide-body aircraft.
