Sunday, September 25, 2016

787 has found favor amongst Chinese carriers after early bumps

As Boeing was ramping up the 787 (7E7) program early in the last decade, one of the prized target market was China. In January 2005 Boeing landed  a large order for 60 787s to be split amongst 6 Chinese carriers.  This was a coup for the 787 program and gave the young program a huge leg up on the competition.

However, as the 787 delays mounted, there were the inevitable cancellations including a large one of 24 airplanes by China Eastern Airlines of 24 787s in 2011 and a conversion of 3 787-8 by Xiamen Airlines into an order for the 737.

2005 Orders:

Air China - 15 787-9
China Eastern Airlines -15 787-8**
China Southern Airlines - 10 787-8
Hainan Airlines - 8 787-8
Shanghai Airlines - 9 787-8**
Xiamen Airlines - 3 787-8*

Total of 60 787s

* Cancelled on June, 2006
** Cancelled on October, 2011 (Shanghai is partly owned by China Eastern Airlines)

As the 787 program slowly got back on track the Chinese carriers had renewed interest in the Dreamliner. Hainan Airlines led the resurgent Chinese interest in 787 by ordering 30 787-9 plus taking additional -9 on lease from Air Lease Corp and AerCap. Xiaman re-ordered the 787-8 and added the 787-9 which will start deliveries later this year.  China Eastern also re-ordered the 15 787 they cancelled earlier this time taking the 787-9.  Riuli Airlines, a smaller carrier just signed on for 6 787-9.  All told, the Chinese 787 order book is now 98 direct purchased Dreamliner plus a number of additional 787s that will be taken up from lessors.  After deliveries are all said and done, Chinese carriers could account for at least 10% of the total 787 order book which currently stands at 1,161

2016 Orders

Air China - 15 787-9 (6 delivered)
China Eastern Airlines -15 787-9***
China Southern Airlines - 10 787-8 (10 delivered)
Hainan Airlines - 10 787-8 (10 delivered); 30 787-9 (4 delivered)
Ruili Airlines - 6 787-9
Xiamen Airlines - 6 787-8 (6 delivered)****; 6 787-9

***China Eastern re-ordered the 15 787 this time taking the 787-9
****Xiamen re-ordered 6 787-8 in May 2011 and finalized the order in August 2013

8 comments:

Greg.S. said...

it would be nice if they made it Official and Actually List them on Their order books as firm orders intead of "undisclosed ".
Also, don't forget Donghai airlines intent to purchase 5 787 -9's.

Ztev Konrad said...

Doesnt China use a central purchasing model where the state does the order and then allocates the plane to a final buyer. That could be why a lot of firms orders are 'unallocated

Ellerslie Observer said...

I wonder if they got the new ones at the same price as the earlier ones they cancelled. Typically, early orders get a discount on the price compared to orders once the plane has flown.

1coolguy1 said...

With 7 in production testing and 2 ready for delivery, they will make their 12 deliveries (or more) in October easily.

1coolguy1 said...

The 787-10 has not signed many orders since those initially completed with the launch customers and lags it's Airbus competitor greatly, the A350-900.
What are the competitive advantages the Airbus has that makes it's sales so dominating in comparison? The count is -10:153 vs -900:599.

Beekeeper Fred said...

The 787-10 did not get launch approval until June 2013. Where-as the A350-800 & -900 were launched much earlier; 2006. Then Airbus wisely dropped the -800 to concentrate on the -900. Boeing probably withheld launch for several reasons. a)the larger variant could eat into 777 sales, b) Boeing had the huge design and manufacturing delays with the earlier -8 which required they divert resources to fixing the design instead of putting those resources into design of the stretch -10. Maybe a better comparison would be to compare the total sales of the 787 family versus the A350 family. Brand loyalty is another factor.

Unknown said...

Also since they dropped the -800 some of those orders moved to the -900. The higher takeoff weight and range probable help too. The -900 is getting delivered already as well as the 787-10 is just about to go under final assembly.

Vab Andleigh said...

Boeing using robotic AGVs to fetch parts/tools on their Everett 787 line

https://www.flightglobal.com/news/articles/analysis-latest-787-line-remake-adds-agvs-and-2h-wo-429698/