AirBlue to Get Two Airbus A340-300s on Lease from ILFC

[malpensa26]

people on another forum are saying even "confirming" Airblue has gotten 2 A340s on lease first aircraft will arrive in June

anybody else want to confirm if its really gonna happen?

would be nice to see an Airblue a340 at the new Islamabad airport serving ISB-UK flights

[raihans]

a friend of mine also said about acquisition of A340 by ED through some sources in the airline; how far true lets wait and see the reality in June which is not very far now!!!

[Abbas Ali]

They should have chosen twin-engine Airbus A330 instead of four-engine A340.

But it's hard to find A330s for lease these days as nearly all active A330s are busy with their operators, according to a friend of mine.

The A340 can also be used by AirBlue for high density flights to/from Jeddah if the airline is allowed/designated under air services agreement signed between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

Abbas

[jameel.ashraf3]

Thats True, 15 to 25th June, First Flight Ready to Fly on A340..

[TAILWIND]

EK is phasing out its A332 and A343s

[Jacobin777]

Maybe they can get the A340's which Boeing is taking in...

That being said, I do agree that the A330's are much better in the fleet, but I expect that Airblue can acquire some very cheap A343's from the market.

[Zulfiqar]

Although A330 is in demand, if you search for A330's for lease on the internet you can still them advertised. A340 may be cheaper to lease but costlier to run.

[faisal-777]

A340 production has ended and probably, that's the reason their leasing cost might be lower than that of A330. Getting an A330 is like getting a 777 and that is well, difficult as any carrier operating these planes would not give it to any other as they are serving key routes.

One of the airlines, do not remember which one though, are planning to phase out their 340 (a bit older variant). That says a lot about the worth of this aircraft. While it has only one crash to its name (which too involved no fatalities), it hasn't impressed the carriers much and got not more than around 300 orders in its entire timeline. This is thus a great opportunity for airlines like Airblue to get one of them. Spare parts wont be a problem, the production has just ended earlier this year. Not like 737-200,300 that would struggle to find parts.

They might also consider operating an aircraft like this on ISB-KHI or LHE-KHI routes. A lower air fare than PIA would mean they wont fly with any seat unsold

[Moin]

Well I was waiting for someone to start this thread. I was told of this last month that 2 A343's are being leased from TK in an all Y configuration. I questioned the practicality of these planes and was told 'we have done our homework completely on these' and mid-June is the expected arrival date. I will try to get some pre-delivery pics and post them here.

ED were looking for A330's but then I guess when you consider both options you kind of get the following results:

A330 = 2 engines + less fuel + cheaper to operate + hard to acquire on lease + expensive lease cost + very desirable a/c.

A343 = 4 engines + more fuel + more expensive to operate + easy to acquire on lease + cheaper lease cost + not such a desirable a/c.

[Abbas Ali]

Maybe Turkish Airlines and AirBlue can also make some arrangements to transport passengers to various destinations in Europe and USA served by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul Airport after their arrival from Islamabad on AirBlue Airbus A340 aircraft leased from Turkish Airlines.

Abbas

[umar744]

Thai Airways four A340-500 for sale and lease maybe perhaps lease to AirBlue? but need change seats.

[Zulfiqar]

^^
A345 is a good aircraft but i think it will be dearer to lease and there is no requirement at present for Airblue to induct an aircraft with such a long range.

[Jacobin777]

^^
A345 is a good aircraft but i think it will be dearer to lease and there is no requirement at present for Airblue to induct an aircraft with such a long range.

A340-500 for what needs? ED have absolutely no needs for that fuel guzzling over-bloated plane. The A333 probably would be the best plane for ED's needs but as mentioned, its a "hard to get" plane. I think the eventual B787-10X would be a great plane for ED if it plans to expand to more long-haul destinations.

I'm not even sure if the A343 is the right aircraft. I guess if ED can get it cheap enough than it can offset other factors.

[mac777]

thats nice to hear.
a345 is too much.its comparable to 772lr unless they r planning to fly jfk or rio non0stop.
a343 might still be too large for them. i guess they'll be getting those 16-18yrs a343.air france and lufthansa and also ek soon will be disposing of some. a343 should be relatively cheaper to lease than comparable a330 and b777 which might be coming with premium
recently airfrancewet leased 2 a343 to air madagascar for eu flights.
air mauritius also wants to get rid of some of their older a343 but they havent decided yet with what to replace.

[Amaad Lone]

Maybe THY and Air Blue are going into a partnership like they had planned for PIA.

Bring in passengers from Pakistan for Europe, UK and North America.

Two A340-300s operating twice daily flights into Istanbul from Lahore, and Islamabad.

If this goes through PIA is screwed big time.