China Eastern to purchase 777–300ER aircraft, to divest five A340-600s to Boeing

China Eastern Airlines provided (30-Apr-2012) further information on plans to purchase 20 Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, valued at USD5.94 billion at list prices, and sell five A340-600 aircraft. The carrier expects delivery of the 777-300ER aircraft between 2014 and 2018. The airline will fund the acquisition using working capital, bank loans and other sources of financing. The carrier will sell the A340-600 aircraft, with an unaudited book value of around CNY4.47 billion (USD708 million) to Boeing, with delivery between 2014 and 2015. China Eastern said the A340-600 aircraft, which mainly serve long-haul international routes such as Shanghai-New York and Shanghai-Los Angeles and have an average age of 8.3 years, had "high operation costs and have relatively weak route competitiveness". China Eastern said the purchase of the Boeing aircraft and disposal of the Airbus aircraft would lower its unit operation costs and optimise the fleet structure for long-haul routes. Boeing spokesman Yukui Wang said the company has in the past bought jets made by other manufacturers and then sold them to other companies. [more - original PR]