China Eastern Airlines Corp. signed an agreement to buy 100 domestically produced C919 aircraft, dealing a potential blow to Boeing Co., which hasn’t had a large order from Chinese carriers in years.
The order is worth $9.9 billion at list prices, but a significant discount has been applied, Shanghai-based China Eastern said in a statement Thursday. Airlines typically get discounts from the listed prices when making orders.
Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd. produces the C919 aircraft, a narrowbody seen as eventually rivaling best-selling jets from Airbus SE and Boeing.
China Eastern said it plans to take delivery of the C919s from 2024 to 2031. It has ordered five previously, and has started flying two of those domestically.
The airline operates 782 aircraft and last year ordered 100 Airbus short-haul jets.