TMCnet News
CAL Plans to Purchase 10 Boeing 747-8 Passenger Planes in 2006(Taiwan Economic News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Taipei, May 3, 2006 (CENS)--China Airlines (CAL), Taiwan's leading airline company, is reportedly to choose Boeing as its next-generation passenger plane supplier instead of Airbus, and intends to purchase 10 Boeing 747-8 passenger planes in the near future. The new planes will be of an advanced model in Boeing 747 family and feature long-distant flight and high loading capacity. CAL is estimated to spend US$2.5 billion on the purchase It is reported that CAL might sign contract with Boeing for the procurement deal by the end of June to become one the first buyers of the latter's new model plane. Market observers indicated that CAL has in recent years actively purchased new planes to replace the old ones, and most of its new passenger planes are bought from Boeing. Moreover, the company has decided to remove the existing seven A340 passenger planes from its flight fleet in the next three to five years. To scramble for CAL's orders, the Europe-based Airbus dispatched its ranking officials to visit CAL in mid-March and mid-April this year, trying to persuade CAL to purchase A380, the so-called Airbus's jumbo passenger plane, insiders disclosed Some criticized that there is political consideration in the plane purchase by the government-linked CAL, because the government here is trying to flatter the U.S. government and encouraging CAL to buy American planes They suggested that CAL separate politics from business and take the purchasing prices and oil consumption of the planes into consideration, now that the international oil price has already jumped to US$75 per barrel. Last year CAL spent an additional NT$15.1 billion (US$444.12 million at US$1 = NT$34) on fuel oil. |