China Southern Airlines, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, and Sichuan Airlines are looking to divide up a 500-plane order from Airbus from a still-unannounced deal that has been widely reported since June, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The newswire and Chinese local media have also reported that Boeing is close to securing a similar deal to sell as many as 500 aircraft to China.

The three dominant state-owned carriers plan to take about 100 aircraft each from Airbus, with Xiamen Air and Sichuan Airlines targeting agreements closer to 35.

If placed, these orders would be the largest ever for Chinese airlines, taking over the so far largest deal from July 2022, when Chinese airlines ordered 292 A320 family aircraft.

Chinese airlines rarely publicly disclose their orders and often remain unidentified as customers until the delivery of the aircraft. This means their true backlog is not publicly known.

ch-aviation data shows Air China operates a fleet of 530 aircraft, including 283 from Airbus and 207 from Boeing; China Eastern Airlines runs a 671-strong fleet including 466 from Airbus and 166 from Boeing; China Southern Airlines has 677 aircraft, including 386 and 256 from the European and American planemakers, respectively; Sichuan Airlines operates 212 aircraft (all from Airbus), and Xiamen Airlines - 174 (of which 17 are from Airbus and the rest from Boeing).

Boeing nears order for 500 aircraft with China

Concurrently, Chinese airlines and Boeing are reportedly discussing a new order that could help diffuse trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.

The US manufacturer has not been able to secure any orders with Chinese airlines since 2017. It had issues delivering new aircraft to the country, first due to the B737 MAX groundings and a protracted recertification process, and then due to geopolitical tensions between the two governments.

Local Chinese media have said that the terms of the deal are still being finalised, including the type, quantity and delivery schedule of the aircraft.

Boeing was not immediately available for comment.