China’s Shandong Airlines orders 15 Boeing jets

Chinese carrier Shandong Airlines Co Ltd on Friday said it had agreed to buy 15 Boeing B737-800 jets, which have a combined list price of some 1.2 billion dollars.

The US manufacturer Boeing Co. would deliver the 15 planes in 2014 and 2015, the airline said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The statement did not give the agreed purchase price of the planes, which are nominally listed at up to 80 million dollars each.

Based in the populous eastern province of Shandong, the airline is affiliated with the Air China group, which holds 49.4 per cent of its shares.

Both Boeing and European rival Airbus SAS have enjoyed strong sales in China’s rapidly growing aviation market in recent years.

The global giants face future competition from the state-run Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (Comac), which last month announced the first 100 orders for its C919 jumbo jets from flagship carrier Air China and five other airlines.

Comac has forecast that China would need more than 3,750 passenger jets to meet growing demand over the next 20 years, adding to some 1,000 currently in service.

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