The new A350 Island of Beqa

The two new Fiji Airways A350 aircraft have been acquired on a twelve-year operating lease.

Fiji Airways Chief Executive Andre Viljoen revealed this following the arrival of one of the two aircraft yesterday.

Viljoen says the new A350 Island of Beqa is the third for the national airline, and the fourth is anticipated to arrive in ten days.

“One of our five game-changing strategies we’ve been relentlessly pursuing since 2017 has been the modernization of our aircraft fleet with what we call new generation aircraft like this new Airbus A350.”

Viljoen says the A350 is widely regarded as the most advanced commercial aircraft in operation today.

The Chief Executive also says that the two new A350 will provide an additional 60 seats on every flight the national airline undertakes.

He says this therefore adds 30,000 more seats on average per month from the fourth quarter of this year.

He also confirms the new aircraft were put into storage immediately after manufacture, just as COVID-19 started.

He says Fiji Airways was able to negotiate and secure a lucrative deal to acquire them way cheaper than the market rate for the aircraft.