On April 2nd, according to domestic media reports, China Eastern Airlines announced during its performance briefing today that the company plans to introduce 6 domestically-made C919 large aircraft in 2024.
As the global pioneer user of the domestically-made C919 large aircraft, China Eastern Airlines has currently received and operated 5 aircraft, opening regular commercial routes such as Shanghai Hongqiao to Chengdu Tianfu, Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing Daxing, and Shanghai Hongqiao to Xi'an.
China Eastern Airlines stated that with further deliveries of the C919 and continuous optimization and improvement of operational management, it will gradually expand the scale and scope of its operational routes.
Last September, China Eastern Airlines announced that it had signed a "C919 Aircraft Sales Agreement" with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) in Shanghai.
China Eastern Airlines is purchasing 100 C919 aircraft from COMAC, with plans for phased deliveries to occur between 2024 and 2031.
The announcement stated that the total catalogue price for the 100 C919 aircraft purchased is approximately $9.9 billion USD (based on public market quotations for 2023).
COMAC offered significant price concessions to China Eastern Airlines, resulting in the actual price for this batch of aircraft being significantly lower than the aforementioned catalogue price.
Based on the exchange rate of the People's Bank of China announced on the date of signing the transaction agreement (1 USD to 7.1798 RMB), the catalogue price for purchasing 100 C919 aircraft is approximately RMB 71.08 billion.
