Hi Fly has added a pair of long-range Airbus A330-200s to its growing fleet of widebody aircraft that it offers in the ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance, insurance) leasing market.
The Portuguese carrier has acquired the two planes, registered 9H-HFJ and 9H-HFK, to add to its capacity of long-haul aircraft that it leases to other airlines as demand requires.
9H-HFJ is 15.4 years old, having originally been delivered to the now-defunct Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines in August 2008. Before being acquired by Hi Fly, the aircraft flew with GullivAir of Bulgaria. 9H-HFK remains officially unregistered with the Maltese aviation authorities at the time of writing.
Both aircraft are to join the fleet of Hi Fly’s Maltese subsidiary company Hi Fly Malta, which operates the bulk of Hi Fly’s current fleet, which includes five Airbus A330-200s (including the two new aircraft), two A330-300s and five A340-300s, according to ch-aviation. The airline also operates a single A330-900neo, although this aircraft is no longer on either of Hi Fly’s AOCs.
Meanwhile, the company’s Portugal-based AOC currently has a single Airbus A321 on its books.
The two ‘new’ A330-200 aircraft share identical interiors, offering a maximum seating capacity of 269 passengers. The cabins are configured in a two-class arrangement, which features 18 seats in business class and 251 in economy class.
According to a statement issued by the airline, the business class seat offers a generous 78 inches of legroom and a full flatbed recline feature. The seat also features motorized adjustability for headrests, backrests, leg rests, and seat bases. It has a lumbar control, lap safety belt, electrical and mechanical adjustability, and electrical massage divided into five zones, each with two motors.
Meanwhile, the economy class seats offer a pitch of 32 inches across the cabin.
“We are delighted to add these two new Airbus A330-200 to our existing fleet,” said Antonios Efthymiou, CEO of Hi Fly, “They are the perfect complement to our portfolio and will allow us to offer an even wider range of options to meet the growing demand for our services from around the world.”
With a maximum range of 15,500 kilometers (9,995 miles), the A330-200 family is well known for its reliability and boasts an operational efficiency of 99.4%.
Hi Fly resumed its fleet expansion program after the pandemic and is adding a new aircraft every quarter. This rate of fleet expansion is expected to be maintained until the end of 2024.