Taiwan flag carrier China Airlines is set to order 20 passenger widebody aircraft — split between Airbus and Boeing — according to a filing the company made on the Taiwan Stock Exchange on December 19, 2024. In addition, the airline is set to order four 777-8 freighter aircraft.
The passenger widebody order consists of ten 777-9 jets and ten A350-1000s.
The filing states that the total transaction price (including the freighter order) will be “no more than $11.9bn”, with the unit prices listed as $530 million for each 777-9, around $448 million for each A350-1000, and around $519 million for each freighter.
As of October 31, 2024, the airline had 15 A350-900, 16 A330-300, 10 777-300ER, 10 737-800, 13 A321neo jets, as well as eight 747-400 and nine 777 freighters. The airline's total fleet had an average age of 9.4 years.
The filing said the order was to “replace aging fleet and to improve operating efficiency”.
In a separate filing on the same day, the airline noted that it had purchased four General Electric GE9X spare engines, which powers the 777X series, as well as three Rolls-Royce XWB-97 spare engines, which power the A350-1000s. The engines will “satisfy fleet operation” for the airline, it said in the filing.
The airline said each GE9X engine would cost no more than $59.2 million each and the XWB engines would cost around $51.2 million, with the transaction totalling around $390.4 million.