China Eastern Airlines to buy another 100 C919 airplanes

CHINA Eastern Airlines signed a contract with aircraft manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac) to buy another 100 C919 airplanes, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Thursday (Sep 28).

The new China Eastern order is the largest order for the Chinese passenger plane, developed by Comac to rival Airbus’ A320neo and Boeing’s 737 MAX single-aisle jet families.

The Shanghai-headquartered carrier is the first user of the C919 and has bought five of the jets, of which three have been delivered. The other two are expected to be delivered later this year.

GallopAir, a new Brunei-based airline, said in a statement last week that it had signed a letter of intent to purchase 30 aircraft from China, worth US$2 billion in total. The deal includes 15 orders of Comac’s ARJ21 aircraft and 15 of the C919.

The state media said the new purchase of China Eastern will be delivered in batches from 2024 to 2031. In 2024, five aircraft are planned to be delivered, while ten are to be delivered each year from 2025 to 2027. From 2028 to 2030, 15 C919s will be delivered each year, and the last 20 jets will be delivered in 2031.

The size of the deal was not published on Thursday. China Eastern previously disclosed the aircraft’s list price is US$99 million. REUTERS