China Airlines plans $2 billion spend on Airbus aircraft as Boeing fails to deliver
June 25, 2025
China Airlines, Taiwan’s oldest airline, is reported to be leasing several new Airbus aircraft to accelerate its fleet renewal.
In all, the airline plans to add eight more Airbus A321neo and five A350-900. As reported by Reuters, the total cost of leasing the jets is expected to exceed $2 billion.
Earlier this week, China Airlines’ Chairman George Kao told Reuters the airline was delaying the retirement of some of its older aircraft due to delivery delays on previously ordered Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
Air Lease Corp to supply A321neos to China Airlines
China Airlines told the Taiwan Stock Exchange that five of the A321neos would come from Air Lease Corporation, at a cost of $240 million. It said the negotiations for the other three are ongoing.
The A350s, China Airlines says, will cost no more than $1.965 billion. It added that if it leased them, they could cost $1.148 billion, suggesting the carrier is hunting on the used market.
Planespotters data shows 16 A330s in the airline’s fleet, with an average age of 17.7 years. Some individual airframes are over 20 years old.
China Airlines has ordered 24 Boeing 787s, including 18 787-9s and six of the stretched 787-10 variant. None have yet arrived, with the chairman saying he doesn’t expect delivery of the first until the tail end of 2025.
It already has 15 A350-900s in service, and has ordered A350-1000s for its longest routes, so integration into the fleet will be straightforward.
No timeline has been given for when the airline expects the leased aircraft to arrive
Boeing delays push the China Airlines to lease Airbus
The Taiwanese carrier is in the midst of a thorough fleet renewal. Last year, it split an order worth almost $12 billion between Boeing and Airbus for its new long-haul fleet.
Its geing Airbus A330s were due to be replaced by modern Boeing 787-9s, but supply chain bottlenecks mean China Airlines has been waiting longer than expected.
“We are at present being greatly impacted,” Kao told Reuters in an interview. “Some aircraft that were scheduled to be phased out, or handed back at the end of their lease, as some are leased, will remain and have their leases extended.”
Now, it seems the carrier can’t wait any longer.
