China Eastern to hasten international expansion pace

China Eastern is well equipped to launch / expand International operations.

To this end, its fleet includes, e.g. :

•--- 13 x A330-200 (with 8 more order to be delivered) ;
•--- 15 x A330-300 (with 15 more on order, as per order of October , 2011 ? ) ;
•--- 5 x A340-600 (doing very well, but to be phased out, and replaced by B777-300ER, with a growth plan entrusted to this component, of which there appear to be 20 on order & to be delivered – that number seems good -- ... allegedly placed at rock-bottom prices, .... all wrapped up in a re-marketing commitment by Boeing on the A340-600 ; but no-one on the outside really knows these alleged details, which are speculative, and could be media trash).
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Anyway, that entry of B777-300ER into China Eastern’s fleet, whatever the commercial & financial conditions, is good for Boeing.

However, a hard, irrefutable combination of facts, WITHOUT SPECULATION (save as stated) , is that :
•--- In 2005, China Eastern Airlines placed an order for 15 x B787 ;
•--- the airline cancelled the B787 order, owing to the program's continuous delays ;
•--- and switched, reportedly, to a batch of B737-800NG (in an order of 43, still to be delivered, over & above 22 x B737-800 already in the fleet, & alongside some 47 x B737-700 ; on domestic flights, at this stage, B737-MAX is no good to the airline, which, in any case, needs PUC urgently ;
however, people said to be close to the dossier, have, reportedly said that all that is ‘cosmetics’ ; the 20 x B777-300ER would appear to be “compensations orders” for the 15 x B787 cancelled, in a transaction based on the knock-down promotion-cum- launch price for B787’s of US$ 120 million per unit -- highly possible, indeed, probable, but speculative ; not least because this order for 20 x B777-300ER is seemingly separate from the B737-800 NG orders mentioned above, and, reportedly, still subjected to the on-going Government approval process ; accordingly, .....“wait & see”).