China Airlines orders new widebody jets from Airbus and Boeing

This marks Airbus's third A350 family order in December, following orders from Air Calin and Air India. Air Calin purchased two A350-900s while Air India disclosed its order of ten A350s alongside another addition of 90 A320neo family aircraft to its backlog.

Meanwhile, China Airlines has added the Boeing 777X to its growing list of aircraft orders. According to Boeing’s records, they are still required to deliver one 777F, eighteen 787-9s, and six 787-10s to China Airlines.

Throughout this year, other Taiwan-based airlines like EVA Air and Starlux have also expanded their fleets with new purchases. EVA Air finalized an agreement for eighteen A350-1000s and fifteen A321neos in January, while Starlux committed to three A330-900s and five A350Fs in February.

Data indicates that China Airlines currently operates a fleet of eighty-two aircraft but faces aging issues with some models such as the A330-300s averaging over seventeen years old and the 747-400Fs over nineteen years old.

According to Cirium’s Diio Mi airline planning system data from this year, China Airlines scheduled fewer flights compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019 but plans include replacing older widebodies which could help address operational challenges moving forward.