(Yicai) July 20 -- Air China, its subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines, and Hainan Airlines Holding have announced orders for 95 Airbus aircraft worth a total of USD17.8 billion, bringing the number of jets Chinese airlines have ordered from the European plane maker to 476 since the end of last year.

Air China will buy 15 Airbus A350-900 wide-body aircraft, while its unit Shenzhen Airlines will purchase 40 narrow-body jets from the A320neo family, the parent company announced late on July 17. The planes, which will be delivered in batches from 2029 to 2032, are worth about USD12.4 billion based on the price cited in the manufacturer's latest catalog.

On the same day, Hainan Airlines said it plans to buy 40 aircraft from the A320neo family for up to USD5.4 billion. The jets will be delivered in batches between 2028 and 2032, it added.

Airbus has offered significant discounts, so the actual cost will likely be lower than that in the catalog, Air China and Hainan Airlines both noted.

The A350-900 and A320neo families include Airbus' next-generation fuel-efficient aircraft, featuring markedly lower fuel consumption, carbon emissions, and operating costs compared with the previous generation.

The deal will help expand Hainan Airlines' fleet and optimize its composition, the company pointed out. On the other hand, Air China noted that a portion of the new aircraft will replace aging jets, so the net capacity increase from the purchase will remain manageable.

On Dec. 31, Air China ordered 60 A320neo aircraft to be delivered in batches between 2028 and 2032. Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, China Express Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, as well as China Southern Airlines and its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines are the other domestic carriers to have ordered from Airbus since the end of last year.

Despite the industry's persistent heavy losses, carriers keep signing large orders with Airbus because deliveries will only commence several years down the line, several insiders told Yicai. Delaying orders further would push delivery timelines, they noted.

During China Southern Airlines' 2025 annual results communication session held in late March, executives said that aircraft delivery delays by manufacturers will likely persist, with the bottleneck only able to be effectively eased once production output of Chinese large passenger jets increases.

The China-made C919 aircraft has yet to achieve large-scale deliveries. Its developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China said at the end of last year that it expects to produce about 200 such planes annually by 2029.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev