Malaysia Airlines said Wednesday a provisional deal to purchase eight Boeing 787 jets had lapsed and the airline was in talks with planemakers about the future of its widebody fleet. The national carrier last year signed a memorandum of understanding with Boeing to purchase the 787 jets valued at $2.25b at list prices during a visit to Washington by former PM Najib Razak. In April, the carrier had expressed interest in buying 20 to 30 widebody jets from either Boeing or its rival Airbus that could expand or replace the Boeing MoU. The lapse of the MoU was confirmed by a Malaysia Airlines spokesman on Wednesday. A Boeing spokesman declined to comment. Malaysia Airlines CEO Izham Ismail said that the airline had issued a request for information from aircraft makers for new generation widebody jets, without specifying how many it intended to buy. It was open to the advice of the manufacturers on the fleet size the airline would need for further network development, he said, adding any order decision would be made in the fourth quarter at the earliest. The airline currently has an all-Airbus widebody fleet including A330s, A350s and A380s.<br/>
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Cathay Pacific will grow its new routes to Seattle Tacoma and Washington Dulles before adding any new US markets, says chief executive Rupert Hogg. The carrier hopes to increase frequency from four-times weekly to both new destinations – Seattle begins in March 2019 and Dulles began on 15 September – he tells FlightGlobal at an event at Washington Dulles today. "Once we launch a new destination, we try to get to daily," says Hogg. "I think you'll see more of that to [our] new destinations." Cathay Pacific operates a 334-seat Airbus A350-1000 to Dulles, and will operate a 280-seat A350-900 to Seattle. The Hong Kong-based airline is targeting technology centres and, to a lesser extent, educational centres for expansion, says Hogg. Washington fits both of these, he adds, citing the technology cluster near Dulles airport and the multiple universities in Washington DC. Seattle, similarly, is a major technology centre, including the headquarters of both Amazon and Microsoft. The new routes come as US carriers report competitive pressure in the US-China market. <br/>