China’s
Juneyao Airlines has ordered 10 Boeing 787-9s, a company source confirmed to
ATW exclusively on Monday. The aircraft will be used to facilitate the Shanghai-based carrier’s rapid expansion.
Deliveries of the first three aircraft are scheduled for 2018.
Many Chinese carriers—including China Southern, Air China, China Eastern, Hainan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines,
Ruili Airlines and
Donghai Airlines—are using 787-9s to explore the intercontinental market.
Juneyao Airlines, which was launched in September 2006, operates 56 Airbus A320 family aircraft on more than 80 domestic and international routes to Southeast and Northeast Asian countries—such as Japan, Korea and Thailand—with annual passenger boardings of more than 10 million.
Juneyao chairman Wang Junjin told
ATW at the end of last year the company was considering opening long-haul intercontinental routes for the long term. In February, the carrier applied to the Civil Aviation Administration of China to open
long-haul intercontinental routes.
In October, Juneyao formally sealed a strategic partnership with Star Alliance, enabling the carrier to become a
connecting partner in 2017. Wang didn’t rule out the possibility of joining Star Alliance as a formal partner in the future.