Taiwan's China Airlines (CAL) is once again the centre of a political storm over plans to acquire aircraft from Airbus, with US government officials putting intense pressure on Taipei authorities to buy from Boeing instead .
CAL is known to have taken an internal decision in July to order 16 Airbus A330-200/300s, rejecting an offer of 777s from Boeing.
US government officials began pressuring Taiwan to order Boeing aircraft, warning that Washington may be forced to look at the cost of providing it with military assistance.
In 1999 CAL's selection of the Airbus A340 over the 777 caused a political storm, despite the fact that Boeing at the same time won orders for 13 747-400 freighters and five 737-800s.
At the time Taiwanese officials said CAL, majority owned by a government-controlled foundation, could take its own decisions on commercial grounds.
However, senior officials have been giving conflicting statements, with some saying CAL can decide on its own while others have been arguing that the government has the right to force it to order US-made aircraft.
Latest reports say CAL may split its planned order for new aircraft between the A330-300 and 747-400.
Source: Airline Business