China Eastern Airlines to buy 60 A320's
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HONG KONG, Nov 23 AFP
November 23 2012, 10:47PM
China Eastern Airlines says it will buy 60 Airbus A320 aircraft in a deal worth $US5.39 billion ($A5.22 billion) to meet booming domestic travel demand.
"The Airbus aircraft will primarily be used to satisfy the increasing demand for domestic medium and short-haul passenger air transportation routes," the airline said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange on Friday.
"The purchase of the Airbus aircraft will further strengthen the company's competitiveness in the domestic civil aviation market and increase its operational capacity in domestic routes of the company."
The Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines, one of the country's three major carriers, said the new aircraft will be delivered in stages from 2014 to 2017.
The company said the purchase will be funded through bank loans. The deal is subjected to shareholder and regulatory approvals.
The Hong Kong-listed shares of China Eastern closed up 1.88 per cent before the announcement at HKD$2.71. The benchmark Hang Seng Index ended up 0.79 per cent.
