Hong-Kong based Cathay Pacific Airways has finalised an order with Airbus to purchase 32 A321neo single-aisle aircraft.

The deal follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed between the companies last month.

The newly ordered aircraft will be operated by Cathay Pacific Airways’ regional airline unit Cathay Dragon to connect Hong Kong to destinations across Asia.

When delivered, the new A321neo aircraft will replace and revamp Cathay Dragon’s existing fleet of 15 A320s and eight A321 planes.

The new aircraft will also enable the airline to capture growth opportunities in the region.

An all-Airbus operator, Cathay Dragon currently serves 56 Asian destinations, including 28 in mainland China.

"When delivered, the new A321neo aircraft will replace and revamp Cathay Dragon’s existing fleet of 15 A320s and eight A321 planes."

The carrier currently has a fleet of 23 A320 family aircraft and 24 wide-body A330-300 jets, while Cathay Pacific operates 37 A330-300 and 18 A350-900 planes.

Cathay Dragon also has another 30 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft on order, which includes the A350-900 and larger A350-1000.

While finalising the latest deal, Cathay Pacific further noted that it had switched the order for six A350-1000 wide-body aircraft to the smaller variant of the type and postponed delivery of five wide-body jets by a year, reported Reuters.

With the switch, the company seeks to save $288m based on list prices.

The company’s new A350-900 aircraft are expected to be delivered in 2019 and 2020.

Image: An aircraft operated by Cathay Pacific. Photo: courtesy of Airbus.