Taiwan's China Airlines denies facing pressure about aircraft order

taipei, taiwan — 

Taiwan's China Airlines is not facing immoderate governmental unit connected its determination astir whether to bargain Boeing oregon Airbus craft for a refreshment of its long-haul fleet, the company's president said Saturday.

Taiwan's largest bearer has been weighing Boeing's 777X and the Airbus A350-1000 arsenic replacements for its fleet of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, mostly utilized connected U.S. and immoderate high-density determination routes, according to manufacture sources.

China Airlines Chairman Hsieh Shih-chien told reporters the institution was inactive successful the process of evaluating which craft to acquisition and, asked if determination was immoderate governmental unit connected the decision, replied "no."

"When it comes to buying aircraft, it is lone China Airlines ourselves who makes the assessment. I privation to clarify this," Hsieh said.

Multibillion-dollar deals for caller craft often indispensable instrumentality governmental arsenic good arsenic concern considerations into relationship — particularly successful the lawsuit of Taiwan, fixed its planetary concern and the unit it faces to springiness successful to China's sovereignty claims, which are rejected by the democratically elected authorities successful Taipei.

The United States is Taiwan's astir important planetary backer and arms supplier contempt a deficiency of ceremonial diplomatic ties, and China Airlines' bulk proprietor is the Taiwan government.

A elder manufacture root told Reuters, speaking connected the information of anonymity fixed the sensitivity of the matter, that connected the China Airlines woody the timing was a complicating origin fixed November's U.S. election.

In 2022, soon aft then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei — which acceptable disconnected Chinese warfare games — China Airlines announced a $4.6 cardinal bid for Boeing's 787 to regenerate its aging fleet of Airbus A330s.

China Airlines already operates 15 of the smaller Airbus A350-900s, arsenic good arsenic 9 of the freighter versions of the 777.

Hsieh said the 787s would commencement arriving from adjacent year, portion a further 11 Airbus A321s, which are replacing its older Boeing 737-800s, would each travel earlier 2026.