Boeing, Airbus to share Taiwan's China Airlines passenger jet order, sources say
China Airlines considering replacement for 777-300 fleet
Order may be split between Airbus and Boeing, sources say
China Airlines ordered 16 Boeing 787s in 2022
Adds further source comment, paragraph 6, China Airlines share price, paragraph 10
By Ben Blanchard and Tim Hepher
TAIPEI/PARIS, Nov 7 (Reuters) -Taiwan's China Airlines 2610.TW is nearing a decision to split a multi-billion-dollar order for long-distance passenger jets between Airbus and Boeing, while an order for freighters hangs in the balance, industry sources told Reuters.
The decision will come as the United States' presidential election ended with the Republican Donald Trump sweeping back into office, and Taiwan keen to ensure the new U.S. government understands Taipei's desire to ensure strong relations continue.
Taiwan's largest carrier has been weighing Boeing's BA.N 777X and the Airbus AIR.PA A350-1000 as replacements for its fleet of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs and to provide capacity for future growth.
The sources said China Airlines could order as many as 20 passenger jets to be split roughly equally between the two plane giants, while the choice of freighters was at least partly being weighed against the backdrop of U.S. presidential elections.
Such a deal for the passenger jets would be worth almost $4 billion after typical industry discounts, according to estimated delivery prices from aviation consultancy Cirium Ascend.
A final decision depends on the airline's board and there is no guarantee at present about the numbers and types of planes in any formal deal, the sources said.
China Airlines ordered 16 Boeing 787-9s in 2022 to replace its ageing fleet of Airbus A330s.
China Airlines told Reuters that it plans its fleet "based on market demand and corporate developments, and carefully studies the relevant technical and commercial conditions to select the most appropriate aircraft type".
Airbus and Boeing declined comment.
China Airlines' shares closed up 3.3% on Thursday, outperforming the broader index's .TWII 0.8% gain.
Multibillion-dollar deals for new aircraft often have to take political as well as business considerations into account - especially in the case of Taiwan, given its international situation and pressure it faces to give in to China's sovereignty claims, which are rejected by the democratically elected government in Taipei.
The U.S. is Taiwan's most important international backer and arms supplier despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties, and China Airlines' majority owner is the Taiwan government.
Trump's first administration strongly supported Taiwan, but comments he made on the campaign trail saying the island needed to pay for Washington's protection and that Taiwan stole U.S. semiconductor business unnerved Taipei.
Taiwan's government swiftly congratulated Trump on his election win and says it is confident of strong ties.
Industry sources say Taiwan has traditionally been seen as one of several key markets where the diplomatic context can help to sway a purchase decision one way or another, on top of the stringent technical evaluations carried out by airlines.
Last month, however, the airline's chairman denied it was facing any political pressure over its fleet decisions.
Hsieh Shih-chien told reporters that only China Airlines itself made the assessments about which aircraft to buy.
Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Tim Hepher; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Michael Perry
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
