American Airlines’ Airbus A330s that were (prematurely, in my opinion) retired at the start of the coronavirus pandemic will be returning to the skies… but for a different airline! I first covered this back in the spring, but would like to provide an update, as we’re getting closer to the delivery of these aircraft, and have a better sense of the types of missions that they’ll fly.
In this post:
Sun PhuQuoc Airways picks up eight Airbus A330s
Sun PhuQuoc Airways is a leisure airline startup based in Vietnam. The airline received its air operator’s certificate in September 2025, and commenced commercial operations as of November 2025.
The carrier’s primary hub is in Phu Quoc (PQC), as you may have guessed based on the name. So far the company has a fleet of 17 Airbus A320-family aircraft, including three A320neos, two A321s, and 12 A321neos. The airline has huge growth aspirations beyond that, including acquiring eight Airbus A330-200s, plus up to 40 Boeing 787-9s (which will be delivered as of 2031).
We’re now learning more details about how these wide body plans are taking shape. Back in April 2026, it was first reported that Sun PhuQuoc Airways would pick up eight A330s that used to fly for American.
The airline has now formally announced that four of these will be joining the fleet before the end of 2026, and then four more will be joining the fleet in the first four months of 2027. They’re still quite new, as they’re only 12-13 years old, and they’ve spent roughly half of that time in storage.
The airline has now shared a photo of the first A330 in its livery. While the initial plan was for the plane to have the full “Sun PhuQuoc” text on the fuselage, the airline has simplified its logo and branding, and it now simply shows “SPA.”
These are all planes that were initially delivered to US Airways, and they have 247 seats, including 20 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats, and 206 economy seats. The business class seats are in a reverse herringbone configuration, and the first photos of the cabins have been shared.
As you can see, minimal changes have been made, as just the finishes have been updated. The airline is calling the cabins a “resort in the sky,” which is both hilarious and sort of cute.
Vietnamese airlines are known for acquiring planes secondhand, and making minimal updates, so these are actually pretty substantial updates, all things considered. 😉
The airline claims it will use these A330s to strengthen routes to South Korea, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, and Australia, while exploring expansion to several destinations in Europe. Here’s what Sun Phu Quoc Airways CEO Nguyen Manh Quan had to say about this:
“Investing in the Airbus A330 wide-body fleet is a strategic move in the airline’s development journey. Our objective extends beyond network expansion. We are equally committed to enhancing the passenger experience on longer routes, with products and services that are meticulously developed from the outset. This also serves as the foundation for SPA to steadily refine its service quality in line with international five-star standards.”
I’m very curious to see how this all plays out. While Vietnam’s economy has been growing fast, the country’s aviation sector has seen mixed results. For example, several years back we saw Bamboo Airways growing at a very fast pace, only to then have to dump most of its aircraft, because the economics just didn’t make sense. The airline is now on the verge of liquidation, and no longer operates regularly scheduled flights.
I’m determined to fly on one of these PhuQuoc Airways A330s once they enter service, as this’ll be such a blast from the past for American (and with the Park Hyatt Phu Quoc finally opening, the timing is sort of great!).
These A330s were a major strategic blunder for American
It can’t be overstated how much of a strategic blunder it was for American to retire these planes so early, and as I see it, this was part of when American really firmly cemented its third place position among the “big three” carriers.
At the start of the pandemic, American retired all of its A330s, along with all Boeing 757s and 767s, and that massively limited American’s long haul growth opportunities. While that maybe seemed wise for some number of weeks when many people felt travel demand would never recover, demand sure came back fast and strong.
So when that happened, American found itself at a major disadvantage, given its small long haul fleet. What’s sad is that at a minimum, American could’ve initially reactivated these A330s. They were just six or seven years old at the time, and had plenty of life left in them, not to mention American had just reconfigured them to add premium economy.
But nope, American didn’t do that. Instead, it just pursued its “buy lots of new planes, bulk up on debt, and dominate the world via El Paso” strategy, which hasn’t exactly been a smashing success.
Bottom line
American’s gently used Airbus A330-200s will be returning to the skies, flying for Vietnam leisure airline startup Sun PhuQuoc Airways. The airline launched operations in late 2025, and has massive growth plans, including acquiring eight ex-American A330s, along with quite a few Boeing 787-9s as of 2031.
We’ll see how this all plays out, though I’m happy to see these planes getting another lease on life, given that they were only in service for such a short period. It’s just a shame American isn’t the airline that decided to bring them back.
What do you make of this deal involving ex-American A330s?
Your writing level is poor, seriously. "Cool" in the headline just because one airline buys aircraft from another airline? And terming something as "cute" or whatever. How about grown up writing. And have you ever run an airline or been on a board to know about retiring or not aircraft?
Pompous twit.
"know about retiring or not aircraft"
These are all eight of the 2014-2015 deliveries, AA also had seven 2009-2010 deliveries. The sixth and seventh have already been delivered to Israir, and the first one has been delivered to Azul with the next four on their way shortly.
Ben, you keep saying that these a330s were only 6-7 years old at the time. Less than 10 of the 24 were that old. All the A330-300s were over 17 years old at the time, which makes them quite old. Also, the business class and economy class cabins were very outdated and uncompetitive and AA would have had to refit them at a high cost. So, while it was a bad decision to retire them, it wasn’t as outrageously stupid as you present it.
@ Bruce -- Six to seven years referred to the A330-200s. But let's talk about the A330 fleet overall, including the older ones. DL flies A330-200s and A330-300s that are at least as old as American's, and the airline has seats similar to what AA had installed at the time. Why could DL fly these but not AA? I'd say AA could learn a thing or two from DL...
I’m pretty sure most industry experts point to this being a bAAd move costing AA tons of money, especially considering loss of longhaul during post/covid recovery. What about the other frames? I’ve seen the two Israir A332s.
Few from SGN-HAN J on them last week and it was outstanding from start to finish, the best domestic, and one of the best short haul flights I have ever been on. A really well thought out and executed proposition. Very nice lounge with personal service and a solid à la carte menu. Onboard service was also great, individually plated and presented 3 courses, including a very delicious salmon and caviar appetizer. I hope they...
Few from SGN-HAN J on them last week and it was outstanding from start to finish, the best domestic, and one of the best short haul flights I have ever been on. A really well thought out and executed proposition. Very nice lounge with personal service and a solid à la carte menu. Onboard service was also great, individually plated and presented 3 courses, including a very delicious salmon and caviar appetizer. I hope they can expand successfully, would love to be able to fly them long haul.
It's amazing how low our expectations in the States are for a 2 hr flight when others are getting salmon and caviar + lounge access for flights of the same duration.
The term "caviar" has wide application in the fish egg universe, but your point is well taken. I hope SPA has taken careful note of the fate the befell Bamboo, and will learn the lessons well. As Vietnam gets richer, more & more people will want to fly. If SPA plays their cards right & doesn't get carried away, they'll be in a great position to start mining gold.
Flew a flight from Hanoi to HCM and they were pleasant to fly. Hope they don't go the way of Bamboo and Wow by expanding too fast
@ConcordeLadyBoy has returned....lets have some fun gurl..
Just flew a VietJet A330 (formerly AirAsia) from SGN to SYD a couple weeks ago. My seat felt more spacious than the fancy CX A350-1000 that got me from YYZ to HKG.
Ben, I love how the changes are minimal when planes are handed to airlines in Vietnam. It reminds me of good times.
An AA hit job made to look like a new Vietnam airline lovefest. C’mon.
I still like AA. Yes, they are a distant 3rd. No, it would be bad for everyone if they were to disappear.
And yes, I doubt another new Vietnam air carrier will survive.
while I would love to carry on with dunking on AA, it says something to me that it has taken 6 years to find someone willing to take these relatively "young" A332.
Seems strange to me, too. One would think with their history, DL would have loved to buy 330s with the lower price than new. But, maybe AA wasn't willing to part with them at a market-adjusted price.
They were supposed to go to TG until they backed out last minute
I had the same thoughts, but how did even take them that long to not-go to TG?
Do we think TG got a better offer with the China Southern 787s?
Just in Phu Quoc. Ben, it would be a great family trip for you + kids — lots to do.
FUN FACT:
Vietnam Airlines' route from San Francisco to Ho Chi Minh City (SFO-SGN) nonstop transpacific flight, is *the* single lowest yielding overseas flight segment departing the USA, as per Cirium records ending 4Q25.
That flight has 1/6th of the yield of the highest overseas flight (EWR-SIN, SQ) despite being a shorter distance.
Worst performer by a US carrier is LAX-HKG, UA.
Worst performer over the Atlantic is DFW-HEL, AY.
How does one access these records? Fascinating information
"How does one access these records?"
$$$$, and lots of it.
Cirium will sell the data to anyone, but it's like the price of a new car. Easily $25,000 or more. I don't know the current rates, but I'm sure airlines and research firms get some kind of corporate discount prices tough.
One of our clients paid for Cirium last year, for some research they wanted done. I don't know what price they negotiated, but the market price for 2025 was $31,000.
Probably be worse this year, with effect from all the upheavals in the Middle East.
Any specific reasons why? I'm curious.
@ConcordeBoy
In June, Delta will start flying LAX-HKG. How will Delta make it work when United is not performing well on that route? It seems passengers prefer Cathay Pacific which flies thrice daily on this route.
May be Tim Dunn can explain to us how Delta will survive on this route.
It's not just about yields. Sometimes the carrier must fly certain routes to keep corporate accounts happy...politics and other unsexy things that people on here do not wish to hear about play into this ha. Low(lower)crap "yields" does not mean "no revenue". Cathay is unbeatable HKG to the US. UA is a much bigger and more established name in HK than DL for sure...so it will be interesting. DL will do as well to HKG...
It's not just about yields. Sometimes the carrier must fly certain routes to keep corporate accounts happy...politics and other unsexy things that people on here do not wish to hear about play into this ha. Low(lower)crap "yields" does not mean "no revenue". Cathay is unbeatable HKG to the US. UA is a much bigger and more established name in HK than DL for sure...so it will be interesting. DL will do as well to HKG as they did on LHR-LAX. The people of Hong Kong are image-conscious, same as Londoners who will fly VS over DL. HKG/London SAME. Watch! DL does well when throwing a bunch of its metal at the Skyteam hubs. ICN/LHR/AMS and CDG. Anyway, lets see what happens.
Sure, though at the yield they're getting, there's not a chance in hell that they're making money on a per segment basis.
It's literally the 3rd lowest yielding overseas longhaul flight departing the continental US, the lowest segment in UA's entire system, and the lowest by any USA carrier. It's garbage, in every sense of the word. IAH-SYD is right behind...
Sure, though at the yield they're getting, there's not a chance in hell that they're making money on a per segment basis.
It's literally the 3rd lowest yielding overseas longhaul flight departing the continental US, the lowest segment in UA's entire system, and the lowest by any USA carrier. It's garbage, in every sense of the word. IAH-SYD is right behind it. Those are far and away UA's absolute stinkers.
Though before anyone gets the wrong idea, UA has some total goldmines as well: IAH-GIG and IAH-GEO absolutely *print* money.
Even in the mid-range: UA's IAD-CPT treads water, but it still doing much better than DL's ATL-CPT.
I have no idea why DL is starting the route. My suspicion is that they have a major corporate client who's demanding the service, and losing that client would incur more losses throughout the network than they'd lose by just flying the route.
Similar for UA actually. UA doesn't have...
I have no idea why DL is starting the route. My suspicion is that they have a major corporate client who's demanding the service, and losing that client would incur more losses throughout the network than they'd lose by just flying the route.
Similar for UA actually. UA doesn't have an aircraft that can realistically fly to HKG from east of the Rockies, with Russian airspace closed: so they can't resume EWR-HKG and ORD-HKG, and had to put all their capacity into their California hubs, or risk losing business from their east coast clients.
Also hurts UA in that it's taking passengers from LAX to BKK on the same aircraft operating LAX-HKG, often for a lower price (at a farther distance) than just the LAX-HKG segment itself.
Truly at a loss as to why they didn't "just" go for a nonstop LAX-BKK (or even SFO-BKK, despite lower demand) and utilize TG's connections; rather than resume it 1stop via HKG, considering how poorly they're performing that way.
I could use some of more of your fun facts.
That's PhuQuoc-ing awesome!
Doom to fail big time! Phu Quoc is a low standard, poor quality, unpopular destination in communist Vietnam like China Hainan island . Go once you will not come again. Better go to other popular islands in Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Watch the flip flop traveler videos on the island - I disagree
Phu Quoc is a lovely and beautiful island that is a great value with lots of new US flagged resorts and good air connections to many places in Southeast Asia. It's also visa-free for folks who would otherwise need a visa to enter Vietnam.
It's not like Vietnamese visas are difficult to get. They don't crawl up your ass with an electron microscope like some countries do.
The JW is supposed to be wonderful there. Maybe too low class for you these days lol but check out the reviews.
No doubt this AA decision to retire the A330's made no sense.
It made sense at the time. Nobody thought the vaccine would get made and distributed as far and as quickly as it did, and that travel would rebound as quickly as it did.
Scott Kirby and United Airlines were the outlier who got grief for keeping what was thought at the time to be too many planes on the books.
People charged with making these billion dollar decisions don't do things nonsensically. You just didn't understand it.
Once it became clear that long-haul travel demand was returning, why didn't AA re-activate the A330-200s and some of their other wide-body aircraft? Other airlines did that, especially with A380s.
AA's initial decision to retire these aircraft may have been the right thing to do at the time, but there is no reason why they could not have reversed course when circumstances changed.
"People charged with making these billion dollar decisions don't do things nonsensically. You just didn't understand it." Or, they really screwed up. Yes, you can make the right decision given available information and have it go pear shaped. You can also really make a terrible decision. I don't imagine you are smart enough to know the difference.
The first 332 flew ROW-MZJ on Thursday for RTS work by Ascent Aviation.
What was the “El Paso strategy”?
It was to serve many small cities at the expense of a few large ones.
“Let DL and UA have JFK and SFO,” said American. “We’ll dominate in ‘up and coming’ markets!”
Turns out up and coming markets aren’t profitable because the big money flies JFK/SFO, like, exclusively. Equity partners at top law firms don’t take clients in El Paso!
Greenie, please do tell us more about how you like to 'dominate'... the competition!
"It was to serve many small cities at the expense of a few large ones."
Your Google ability is second to none. That's why you're an equity partner at Sidley Ropes Skadden Shearman Piper Baker Winston Covington and Debevoise pulling down quadrillions of dollars a week.
So if Western Refining was looking for new representation your firm wouldn't be interested?
Weren't they supposed to go to Thai, or am I missing something?
Perhaps you're thinking of the 787s from China Southern
I recall Thai were supposed to pick up some ex-AA A332s, but the BOD denied the lease as it's older and less fuel efficient that contradicted the airline's post-restructuring strategy to simply its fleet down to 4 types.
They were. But they backed out last minute