The widebody market is as tight as it has ever been, stretched by record orders and delays to the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787 programmes, leaving carriers fighting over a scarce resource
[..deleted stuff about BMI's hunt...]
Another airline that is ready to pounce in the event that aircraft currently accounted for in the order books hit the market again is Qantas low-cost unit Jetstar, which is on the hunt for stop-gap widebodies to cover for the expected year-long delay to the delivery of its 787s. ­Jetstar general manager network Pete Yap says that as the carrier awaits its 787s it plans to lease A330-200s, although other options would be considered if the A330 proves too elusive. "Ideally we would like to get A330-200s because they are known to us, but we're looking at everything short of a [Boeing] 747," says Yap. "We want something in the 250-300-seat range, so we're looking at A330s, 777s, anything - we're just seeing what's out there. Because we can't get delivery slots until a few years out we're looking to see if any airlines cancel or defer orders to see if we could take some deliveries sooner. If another Airbus or Boeing customer or lessee changes their plans, we'd be interested."
