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The order would be the biggest this year for the
jet, worth $7.7 billion according to list prices. It would also
boost the aircraft maker's 787 program backlog to 855 planes.
China's airline passengers are increasingly looking beyond the
mainland for travel opportunities. In 2014, Chinese travelers
made more than 100 million trips overseas in a year for the
first time, up sharply from 8.4 million in 1998, official data
show.
Hainan Airlines added two long-haul routes to North America and
Western Europe last year and plans major international expansion
this year, Cai Zhiquan, a brand manager told Reuters. On
Thursday. it reported net profit jumped 20 percent in 2014 to
2.59 billion yuan ($417 million).
"We'll be flying from major hubs in China to second- or
third-tier cities overseas," said Cai. "At the same time, we'll
also open up more routes from inland Chinese cities to major hub
cities elsewhere."
Hainan Airlines will open four long-haul routes in the first
half of the year, flying to Rome and San Jose, Cai said. It will
also boost services to Boston and Seattle, adding routes to the
cities from Shanghai to existing services from Beijing.
Cai said details of the Boeing order are still being discussed.
Deliveries are scheduled to start before 2021, he said.
Boeing declined to comment.
The 787 is Boeing's most advanced plane, with a carbon-composite
fuselage and improved fuel efficiency. The 787-9 is a stretched
version introduced last year that seats 280 passengers and has a
range of 8,300 nautical miles.
Hainan Airlines' shares, traded in Shanghai, were down 3.7
percent to 4.38 yuan in mid-afternoon trade, well below a 0.51
percent gain in the benchmark index.
($1 = 6.2132 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Alwyn Scott in NEW YORK and Fang Yan and Matthew
Miller in BEIJING; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Kenneth Maxwell)
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