Finnair is considering adding more aircraft to its fleet as it attracts more passengers from Asia, with only a small impact on travel demand from recent terrorist attacks. "We are currently looking for some additional (Airbus A321s)," said Pekka Vauramo, Finnair CE. Finnair, which uses its Helsinki hub to bring Asian passengers to European destinations, said last month it would hit a target to double Asian traffic two years ahead of schedule. The airline's need for new aircraft to boost its short-haul fleet comes as other carriers, such as Lufthansa, have said they have seen reduced demand after attacks on Paris in November and Brussels in March. Vauramo said that while there ware concerns, customers had tended not to cancel but instead shift destinations to Spain and Nordic countries. "The impact has still been fairly small on us," he said.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways said it’s talking with Airbus Group about the planemaker’s proposal for a bigger version of the newest A350 wide-body, a model which needs to attract a strong set of initial customers to get the go ahead. Cathay, which already has 48 A350s on order, is keen on a so-called stretched variant that would allow it serve destinations such as Miami nonstop from its base in Hong Kong, CEO Ivan Chu said. Asia’s largest international airline by passengers took the first of 22 325-seat A350-900s it has on order last weekend, and is also buying 26 366-seat A350-1000s. An even bigger plane, unofficially dubbed the A350-8000, could have more seats, or trade off capacity against an increase in range. While Cathay Pacific will use the A350-1000 to serve the east and west coasts of the U.S., the plane couldn’t reach Miami or some potential destinations in Latin America, Chu said. The airline is also liaising with Rolls-Royce about a more powerful upgrade of the plane’s XWB engine that would be required to gain the extra range.<br/>
Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways are in negotiations to start direct flights between Dublin and Doha, the two airline’s respective hubs, according to Aer Lingus CE Stephen Kavanagh. The Irish executive’s comments come just three weeks after Qatar Airways announced it had increased its stake in Aer Lingus parent company International Airlines Group (IAG) to 15.1%, up from around 12%. “We will be looking at connecting to the Qatar hub either on our metal (planes) or on Qatar metal,” Kavanagh said on Wednesday. “That is a natural way of exploiting the opportunities that both partners can bring,” he said. Qatar Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment but the Doha-based airline has explored closer relationships with IAG since buying into the company in early 2015. Qatar Airways and IAG subsidiary British Airways have a code-share deal.<br/>