Four Chinese airlines signed contracts with Boeing Co on Monday to buy 42 Boeing 787 aircraft, with a catalogue price of around $5 billion. Air China Ltd and China Eastern Airlines Corp Ltd will buy 15 aircraft each, while Shanghai Airlines Co Ltd and Xiamen Airlines, part of China Southern Airlines, will take 9 and 3 respectively, Boeing said.
Boeing said it was finalising deals for 18 more 787s for Chinese airlines. "We remain confident a deal will be completed in the near future," the US manufacturer said in a statement.
The four airlines, as well as China Southern and Hainan Airlines Co Ltd, agreed in January to buy a total of 60 Boeing 787s with a catalogue price of $7.2 billion.
Boeing did not say how much Monday's deal was worth, but big aircraft orders usually get deep discounts. The official Xinhua News Agency put the value of the deal at $5.04 billion.
China Southern is still in talks to buy 10 787s and Hainan Airlines 8, a senior Boeing official in China told Reuters. Industry sources said they were still negotiating on pricing.
The first 787 will be delivered to China in June 2008 in time for the Beijing Olympics.
Shares in Air China, China Eastern and China Southern suspended trading in Hong Kong on Monday, pending major transactions, the Hong Kong stock exchange said.
Air China shares eased 1 percent to HK$2.525 and China Eastern was unchanged at HK$1.30 prior to the late morning trade halt. China Southern was up 1 percent at HK$2.35 prior to its suspension in the afternoon.
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