China Airlines buying 10 Boeing, 12 Airbus planes SEATTLE (AP) =97 Taiwan's China Airlines Ltd. has placed the year's largest= =20 order for Boeing jumbo jets, agreeing to buy 10 747-400s worth a total of=20 $2 billion at list prices, Boeing Commercial Airplanes confirmed Tuesday.=20 China Airlines also placed orders with Europe's Airbus for 12 airplanes and= =20 took options for six more. Boeing's deal is for six, 416-passenger 747-400s= =20 and four 747-400 freighters, with the first plane to be delivered in July.= =20 The airplanes were previously listed among Boeing's orders for the year,=20 but attributed to an unidentified customer. Terms of the orders were not=20 released. Airlines nearly always negotiate discounts to list prices. China= =20 Airlines currently owns 38 Boeing jetliners: 13 747-400 passenger planes,=20 12 747-400 freighters, two 747-200 freighters, and 11 smaller 737-800s. A=20 few months ago, Taiwanese lawmakers accused China Airlines of bowing to=20 pressure from the U.S. government and favoring the Boeing planes over the=20 Airbus jets. Some Taiwanese officials argued that Taiwan should be partial= =20 to the U.S.-based company because America is one of the island's most=20 important friends. The United States is Taiwan's most likely defender if=20 China ever acts on a long-standing threat to attack the island. China=20 Airlines said its decisions to buy planes would be based on business, not=20 political, issues. The airline said the 12 Airbus A330 series aircraft would be delivered from= =20 2004 to 2007. The A330s will replace older mid-range A300-600s in the=20 carrier's fleet. The new aircraft can be configured for 290-320 seats,=20 amounting to a capacity gain of at least 15 percent compared with the=20 A300-600s, China Airlines said. The new Boeing jets will replace four=20 Boeing jets China Airlines currently leases from the government and two=20 older Boeing cargo aircraft. The Airbus jets will be deployed on regional=20 routes, while the Boeings will serve long haul destinations in North=20 America and Europe, China Airlines said. "The decision to acquire new=20 Airbus A330s and Boeing B747-400s meets the company's requirement of=20 upgrading our mid-range and long haul fleet for further operation=20 expansion," Philip Wei, China Airlines' president, said in a statement.=20 Boeing's largest order in 2002, a dismal year for the airline industry,=20 came in January from Ryanair, the Irish-based budget carrier. It ordered=20 100 737-800 aircraft and took options on 50 more. The list price was $9.1=20 billion, but Ryanair said Boeing's offer was "exceptionally=20 competitive." For all of 2002, Boeing said it has received 221 new orders,= =20 with 47 orders canceled, converted or otherwise changed, for a net of 174.= =20 That compares with 328 orders in 2001 and 605 in 2000. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) : escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.tobagoweddings.com/ TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************