Paul Lewis/SINGAPORE
China Aviation Supplies (CASC) has reached agreement with five international and provincial Chinese carriers on the final allocation of about half of the 50 new Boeing 737s, 757s and 777s ordered recently.
As expected, flag carrier Air China will receive five of the eight 777-200IGWs ordered in November to supplement an earlier batch of five Pratt & Whitney PW4077-powered twinjets. The airline will also take the single 747-400 on order, five 737-800s, and is believed to have options on a further 15 aircraft.
The remaining three 777s on order will be allocated to China Southern Airlines, which already operates six of the aircraft, including two -200IGWs. China Xinjiang Airlines is to take delivery of all five 757s ordered, despite China Southwest Airlines having lobbied for two of them.
China Eastern Airlines has been allotted three 737-300s and, unofficially, three more options for its recently acquired subsidiary China General Aviation. Shandong Airlines has secured two more 737-300s to complement the three delivered in 1996.
Options aside, this leaves CASC with 17 737-700/800s and nine -300/400s still to be officially allocated to an operator.
China Southwest, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Xinhua Airlines and Zhongyuan Airlines have all put in competing bids for the aircraft.
Source: Flight International
