Air China has become the latest Chinese operator to disclose a purchase agreement for additional Airbus aircraft, with a deal for 60 A320neo-family jets.
The flag-carrier states that it entered the agreement on 30 December.
Air China will start receiving the aircraft in 2028 and the deliveries are scheduled to run to 2032.
The carrier says the catalogue price for the aircraft – as of January last year – is around $9.53 billion.
It states that Airbus has granted “considerable price concessions” regarding the aircraft purchase, which are “comparable” to those for previous orders from the airframer.
“Disclosure of the actual consideration will result in the loss of the [concessions] and hence a significant negative impact on the group’s cost for the [aircraft purchase],” the airline adds.
No engine selection has been given.
“The transaction is in line with the development plan of the company and the market demand, which is conducive to the group’s optimisation of fleet structure and long-term supplement of fleet capacity,” says Air China.
It states that the additional aircraft will expand fleet capacity by around 6.5% over the level at the end of 2024 – although this does not take into account possible retirement of ageing aircraft.
Air China says some of the A320neos will be used to replace older models.
China’s Spring Airlines and Juneyao Air have similarly unveiled Airbus single-aisle acquisitions, along with Chinese-based lessor CALC.
