AEROMEDIA
The Italian Aerospace Information Web
by Aeromedia - corso Giambone 46/18 - 10135 Torino (Italy)

China Airlines make last 2002 order for Boeing and Airbus airliners

On December 24, 2002, Taiwan's China Airlines confirmed two large orders for both Boeing and Airbus jetliners, the final relevant market event, in an otherwise depressed year. During 2002 the two major manufacturers of civil airliners recorded 670 deliveries, -21% with respect of the 852 aircraft delivered in 2001. The U.S. company, in particular, rolled out 381 new commercial aircraft compared to 527 in 2001 (-18%).
China Airlines ordered six B.747-400s and four B.747-400 freighters, for a value of approximately $2 billion at list prices. It is the largest order placed in 2002 for the type. The first airplane is scheduled for delivery in July 2003. China Airlines, which serves 40 destinations in 20 countries, currently owns 38 Boeing jetliners - 13 B.747-400 passenger airplanes, 12 B.747-400 freighters, two B.747-200 Freighters and 11 B.737-800s.
As a second part of the carrier's long-term fleet renewal programme, China Airlines has also finalized an expected firm order for 12 Airbus A 330 aircraft, and a further six options. The A 330-300s are scheduled for delivery from mid-2004 through to 2007 and will be deployed on the carrier's regional network.
China Airlines already operates the long-haul A 340-300, the first of which entered service with the airline in 2001. The airline has one of the highest A 340 utilisation rates in the world at 15 hours 19 minutes per day. On time departure reliability is 98.6% - very high for a long-range aircraft. The A 340 is also operated on the airline's longest non-stop sector from Taipei to New York-JFK.

In the picture: computer image of the B.747-400 Freighter (in the foreground) with the B.747-400 passenger airliner of China Airlines. (Boeing)

(Aeromedia, December 2002)