Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) appears to be closing on an order for Airbus A380s or Boeing 747-8s after selecting the Airbus A350 XWB following a long-running evaluation of mid-size widebody aircraft.
CAL said early in 2007 that it expected to place orders for new passenger aircraft in two size categories before the end of the year, choosing either the A350 or Boeing 787 and the A380 or 747-8.
It has now signed a letter of intent covering orders for as many as 20 A350-900s, comprising 14 firm orders and six options. Deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered twinjets are scheduled to take place between 2015 and 2020.
The A350-900s will be used for growth purposes as well as to replace CAL's Airbus A340-300s.
The airline says its evaluation of ultra-large aircraft "is still going on". It adds that it does not have a firm timeframe for a decision to be made, but one is thought to be close. The airline will only confirm that both the A380 and 747-8 remain under consideration.
CAL's fleet currently comprises 68 aircraft, 48 of them Airbus and Boeing passenger aircraft and 20 of them Boeing 747-400 freighters. The passenger aircraft fleet comprises 16 Airbus A330s, six A340-300s, 11 Boeing 737-800s and 15 747-400s.
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Source: FlightGlobal.com
