Update on China Aviation

 

In 2011 Chinese airlines announced aircraft orders from multiple Western aircraft manufacturers, another sign of the rapidly growing Chinese aviation industry. Some of these orders are as follows: Air China and Hong Kong Airlines plan to buy planes from Boeing worth approximately USD $10 billion. Hong Kong Airlines plans to purchase 38 Boeing aircraft, including 30 new B787 Dreamliner and six cargo aircraft. Air China was the first Chinese airline to order the B747-8 intercontinental aircraft. HNA Group, controlled by the government of Hainan Province, and which is Hong Kong Airlines and Hainan Airlines parent company, agreed to buy other jets from Dassault Falcon and Gulfstream.

 

China Eastern Airlines has orders placed with Airbus for additional A320s, with delivery scheduled in the next three years. It plans to acquire 50 of these planes, an order valued at USD$3.2 million. China Eastern already operates more than 120 Airbus A320s.

 

Air China, the country's flagship airline, signed an agreement this year for five Boieing 747-8 aircraft. The B747-8 carries more than 460 passengers.

 

According to the Civil Aviation Administrtion of China (CAAC), 90 new airports will open in China over the next 10 years, with the majority of these in the western part of the country.