The board of China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan) has approved a plan to lease eight A321-200Ns and add five A350-900s.

The Taiwanese carrier said that the first five A321neo will be dry-leased from Air Lease Corporation for a period of 123-143 months each. It did not provide the expected delivery timeline. The total lease cost will amount to USD240 million.

China Airlines remains in negotiations concerning the other three A321neo.

Meanwhile, the A350-900s will cost up to USD2 billion if they are bought, or up to USD1.1 billion if they are leased. The airline did not provide further details as to whether it would prefer to buy or lease them, or when they could be delivered.

China Airlines already operates both types; its fleet includes seventeen A321-200NX (with eight more on a firm order from Airbus) and fifteen A350-900s. It also operates sixteen A330-300s, nine B737-800s, eight B747-400FSCDs, ten B777-200Fs, and ten B777-300ERs. It has unfilled orders for ten A350-1000s (with five more options), four B777-8Fs, ten B777-9s, six B787-10s, and eighteen B787-9s. The carrier recently said that it would extend some of the current A330 leases to account for the delayed deliveries of the B787s.