China Eastern Airlines Corp (
The carrier said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange that it signed an agreement with the Chicago-based aerospace company yesterday. The new planes, which will increase the Shanghai-based airline's capacity by 4.3 percent, will be delivered by August 2006.
China Eastern, China Southern Airlines Co (
China Eastern's order is the second order this week for Boeing's passenger planes. Japan Airlines Corp, Asia's largest carrier by sales, said on Wednesday it will buy 30 of Boeing's newest aircraft, the 7E7, with options for 20 more.
Boeing fell behind Toulouse, France-based Airbus SAS last year by the number of aircraft deliveries. Air Deccan, India's sole low-cost carrier, said on Dec. 21 it will buy 30 Airbus A320 planes. Last week, AirAsia Bhd, Southeast Asia's largest discount airline, signed a contract valued at US$2.5 billion to buy 40 A320 planes from Airbus.
China Eastern said the new Boeing planes, which will used General Electric Co engines, will be used to replace some of the older aircraft in its fleet. A 737-700 aircraft can seat 126 to 149 passengers with a maximum range of 7,038km. It has a list price of US$50.5 million to US$59 million.
China Eastern now operates 102 planes, of which 67 are made by Airbus and 17 by Boeing. The airline's longer-range aircraft are mainly from Airbus, and its narrow-body planes include the 737 model from Boeing and the A320 from Airbus.
China Eastern has been expanding its fleet this year.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a
RSS