Paul Lewis/Singapore Brent Hannon/Taipei
China Airlines (CAL) has issued airframe and engine manufacturers with a fresh request for proposals for up to 36 new widebody aircraft, while rival Taiwanese carrier EVA Airways has postponed its decision on a new fleet of ultra long haul passenger aircraft.
CAL has laid out five alternative future fleet scenarios and has asked Airbus Industrie, Boeing, General Electric, Pratt & Whitney and Rolls-Royce to structure their bids accordingly. The contenders have been given until 23 June to complete their submissions to CAL's newly appointed board.
The five options consist of:
an all-Boeing 777 solution, comprising up to 21 777-200s for regional operations, five -200ERs for long haul flights and 10 yet to be launched ultra long range -200Xs; a mixture of 777-200ERs and -200Xs, supplemented by smaller 767-300ER and stretch -400s for regional operations; ordering Airbus A330-200/300s in place of 767s; using A340-500s in place of 777-200Xs; any of the above, with the addition of five Boeing 747-400 freighters.In return the airline wants to trade in all three of its 747-200s, two 747SPs, four MD-11s and seven A300-600Rs, plus a further aircraft due for delivery later this year, five A300B4s and spare engines and parts. The carrier has decided to phase out completely all of its A300s in the wake of the recent Taipei crash, even though many of them are new and the accident investigation is pointing to pilot error.
A major hurdle in the way of CAL's planned widebody fleet rollover is the Government's ban on new aircraft orders until the carrier improves flight safety. Airline sources, however, are hoping that the appointment of a new 11-man board, retaining only the existing chairman Chiang Hui-I, will clear the way for an airline management and operations revamp sufficient to persuade the Government to drop its current ban.
EVA, meanwhile, has decided to put on hold plans to order six new ultra long haul jets until 2000 as a consequence of Asia's economic uncertainty, but still plans to take delivery of four new MD-11Fs this year and in 1999. The airline signed a letter of intent in November to purchase six A340-500s, but has since been strongly lobbied by Boeing to order instead the planned 747-400X.
"It's not a question of whether or not we will buy the A340s, it's a question of when," says EVA junior vice-president Nieh Kuo-wei, who denies any public pressure to take a US aircraft instead.
Source: Flight International
