Taiwan's China Airlines says no political pressure on new plane order By Reuters
TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan's China Airlines is not facing political pressure over its decision on whether to buy Boeing (NYSE: ) or Airbus to revamp its struggling fleet, the company's chairman said on Saturday.
Taiwan's largest carrier is weighing Boeing's 777X and Airbus A350-1000 as replacements for its fleet of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs, which are mainly used on US and other high-density regional routes, according to industry sources.
China Airlines Chairman Hsieh Shih-chien told reporters that the company is still evaluating which flight to take and, when asked if there was any political pressure on the decision, he replied “no”.
“When it comes to buying flights, we only check China Airlines. I want to make this clear,” added Hsieh.
Multibillion-dollar deals for new planes often have to take into account politics and business – especially in the case of Taiwan, given its international status and the pressure it faces to accede to China's sovereign demands, which are rejected by democratically elected officials. government in Taipei.
The United States is Taiwan's most important international sponsor and arms supplier despite the lack of formal ties, and the largest owner of China Airlines is the Taiwanese government.
A senior industry source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter, that the timing of the China Airlines deal was an issue given the US election in November.
In 2022, shortly after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei – which kicked off the Chinese war games – China Airlines announced a $4.6 billion order for Boeing's 787 to replace its aging Airbus fleet A330s.
China Airlines already operates 15 smaller Airbus A350-900s, as well as nine versions of the 777.
Hsieh said the 787s will start arriving next year, while another 11 Airbus A321s, replacing the older Boeing 737-800s, will arrive before 2026.
