Air China inks deal to buy Boeing planes
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-20 18:14
Air China Ltd. said Thursday it signed an agreement to buy 15 Boeing Co. 737
aircraft that have a list price of $982.8 million as part of an
earlier-disclosed package deal that involved eight Chinese airlines buying 80
737 jetliners.
An Air China Boeing 747 aircraft takes off
from Beijing's international airport April 20, 2006.
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The Hong Kong-listed airline said Boeing granted "significant price
concessions" in the aircraft purchase, without elaborating. Boeing usually sells
large aircraft orders at a steep discount to the list price.
Air China said the aircraft, scheduled for delivery between 2009 to 2010,
will expand its fleet of passenger aircraft and "reinforce Beijing's position as
a transportation hub." The company had a total of 176 aircraft at the end of
2005.
The airline said it will finance the purchase from internal resources,
including bank loans and other debt instruments.
The airline's latest aircraft purchase is part of the 80 737 jetliners that
China's official aircraft-purchasing agency bought from Boeing at a total list
price of $5.2 billion last week.
The China Aviation Supplies Import & Export Group, which buys aircraft on
behalf of Chinese carriers, signed a general-purchase agreement last week for 80
single-aisle 737-700s and 737-800s for eight domestic airlines including Air
China.
The purchases by Air China came just five months after it agreed to buy 10
Boeing 737 planes to expand its fleet.
Last year, Boeing sold 120 aircraft in China and is on its way to selling the
same number of airplanes in the country this year, the company said earlier.
Air China is 51.2 percent-owned by state-owned China National Aviation
Holding Co. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. also has a 9.9 percent stake
in the mainland airline.
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