Up, up and far away for Eastern Airlines

China Eastern Airlines signed a total of 15.07 billion yuan (US$2.15 billion) in orders with 10 companies worldwide at the expo yesterday.

The Shanghai-based carrier signed agreements with companies including Rolls-Royce, Canadian Aviation Electronics, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Air France-KLM, General Electric, CFM International and Honeywell to purchase both products and services.

The deals will enable it to become a first-class company that is globally competitive.

In one of the largest orders, China Eastern signed a 10.13 billion yuan engine and maintenance agreement with UK company Rolls-Royce.

The Engine Purchase and TotalCare Agreement includes four Trent XWB plane engines and maintenance services for 44 such engines.

The deal is for the 20 Airbus 350 XWB jets that China Eastern ordered in 2016 “to ensure the reliability and experience of its new A350 fleet,” it said in a statement. The first A350 is scheduled to be delivered to the airline this month.

Further, the carrier signed a US$134 million order with CFM International and a US$97 million order with General Electric for aircraft engines and maintenance. 

The two deals will mainly serve the A320, B777-300ER and B787-9 fleets of the airline.

It also signed aviation oil import agreements with Exxon Mobil Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as an agreement to purchase nine flight simulators and four comprehensive procedure training machines from Canadian Aviation Electronics.