China Airlines has approved a plan to acquire up to 18 Airbus and Boeing passenger and freighter aircraft, and dispose of four Boeing 747-400Fs.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange, it states that the package comprises five Airbus A350-1000s and five Boeing 777-9s, plus four 777-8Fs and two 777Fs.
The carrier puts the overall transaction value for these 16 aircraft at no more than $7.85 billion, and is prepared to invest a further $229 million in four spare Rolls-Royce Trent XWB and GE Aerospace GE9X engines.
China Airlines adds that it is considering introducing a further two 777Fs, in order to “replace ageing aircraft and improve operational efficiency”.
As part of the modernisation, it will divest four 747-400Fs, disclosing that the first pair will be sold to Luxembourg freight carrier Cargolux.
The Taiwanese airline says the other two 747-400Fs are “still under commercial negotiation” and transaction terms have yet to be finalised.
China Airlines values the proceeds from the first two aircraft at around $26 million.
It revealed last year that it was selling a batch of five 747-400Fs to Air Atlanta Icelandic and Asiana Airlines.
