Cathay Orders 14 More Airbus Jets, and Magnifica Firms 10 ACJ220s
Cathay exercised rights for 11 A330-900s, taking that commitment to 41, plus three A321neos it ties to HK Express. Cathay says deliveries from 2026 now total 120. Magnifica disclosed 10 ACJ220-300s and a 17-aircraft fleet.
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Updated November 12, 2026
4 min read
News. The Cathay Group said on 11 November 2026 that it is adding 14 Airbus aircraft: 11 A330-900s and three A321neos. Airbus, in a Toulouse release the same day, calls the transaction a firm order. Cathay says it exercised purchase rights. The two descriptions match on the airplane counts. A separate Airbus Corporate Jets release the same week says Florida-based Magnifica Air has disclosed a firm order for 10 ACJ220-300s that had been sitting in the Airbus order book under an undisclosed customer.
The photograph is a Cathay Pacific A330-300 at Hong Kong on 22 August 2022. It is the airline's current A330 family. It is not an A330-900, it is not one of the 11 aircraft just ordered, and it is not a Magnifica jet. No photograph of the ordered aircraft was used. Those airframes are not yet in service under this order.
What Cathay and Airbus agree on
Airbus says the 11 A330-900s build on the group's 2024 order for 30 of the type and bring the firm commitment for the A330-900 to 41. Thirty plus 11 is 41. Cathay's own release uses the same split and says the 11 are purchase rights exercised on top of the 30 ordered in 2024.
Both releases say the three A321neos sit on top of a 2023 order for 32 A321neo and A320neo aircraft. Airbus does not split that earlier 32 between the two models. Cathay does not either. The new three are A321neos in both texts.
Cathay says the A330-900 will support Cathay Pacific's regional network and add passenger and cargo capacity, and that the A321neo "will further build on HK Express' growth potential" on Chinese mainland and other short-haul routes. The HK Express assignment is in Cathay's release. Airbus's release does not name HK Express. It says the A330-900 and the A321neo give the group flexibility on regional and longer flights at the Hong Kong hub. Alex McGowan, Cathay's chief operations and service delivery officer, is the executive quoted in the Airbus release. Ronald Lam, the group chief executive, is quoted in Cathay's.
Airbus also prints product claims for the two types, including an A330neo range of up to 8,100 nautical miles and a 25 percent fuel-burn comparison with "previous generation competitor aircraft," plus a 20 percent fuel figure for the A320 family against previous-generation single-aisles. Those are Airbus's comparisons. This article does not adopt them as measured results for Cathay's operation. Neither release states a delivery month, a list price, or a cabin configuration for the 14 aircraft.
The "120 from 2026" figure is Cathay's
Lam says the new orders "bring our total aircraft deliveries from 2026 to 120," toward a plan of 150 new deliveries and a network of 150 destinations in the next 10 years, "if market conditions are favourable." The condition is in his sentence. Cathay says the deliveries from 2026 include A321neo and A320neo narrowbodies, the A330-900, the Boeing 777-9, and the A350F and A330 freighters. The release does not publish the addition that produces 120, so the figure stays Cathay's total rather than a sum this article has checked. Lam also says committed investment for 2026 through 2035 is now over HK$150 billion. That, too, is the company's figure. Airbus does not mention 120 aircraft or the Hong Kong dollar sum.
Magnifica, as a short second order
Airbus Corporate Jets says Magnifica Air has disclosed a firm order for ten ACJ220-300 aircraft. The release carries a 9 November 2026 page date and a Mirabel dateline of 10 November 2026. It says the order was already in Airbus's order book as an undisclosed customer. With this disclosure, Magnifica's fleet "will grow to 17 aircraft including 3 ACJ321neo and 14 ACJ220 aircraft." Three plus 14 is 17. Fourteen ACJ220s in that total, of which ten are the order just named, leaves four ACJ220s already inside the 17. The release does not list serial numbers or a first delivery date.
The same release says Magnifica selected Skywise tools, including what it calls Skywise Core X1, plus flight planning, operations and crew management, and navigation databases. It says each ACJ220-300 will have a low-density cabin and that, in a full business-class layout, Airbus's figure for the type is up to 4,000 nautical miles. That range is Airbus's configuration claim. The release does not say Magnifica has published a route map or a start of service. Wade Black is named as chief executive. The marketing lines around a "Private Class" product are the company's. They are not an operating certificate and not a count of airplanes in service.
