Ruili Airlines (DR, Kunming Changshui) parent, Yunnan Jingcheng Group, has signed purchase agreements with two Chinese leasing companies entailing a total of sixty B737 MAX jets which will be sourced under a combination of outright purchase and leasing.

China's WCARN News reports the group signed an order with Minsheng Financial Leasing for thirty B737 MAX jets while a strategic cooperation agreement with AVIC International Leasing involved an additional thirty of the same type.

Subject to Beijing's approval, the combined orders are worth CNY42.80 billion (USD6.8 billion) at current Boeing (BOE, Washington National) list prices.

Operational for just over a year, Ruili uses a fleet of four B737-700s and one B737-800 to serve Beihai, Chengdu Shuangliu, Hefei, Mangshi, Nanchang International, and Wenzhou from its Kunming Changshui hub.

With added capacity, it plans to develop additional bases in Chengdu Shuangliu, Chongqing, Guiyang, and Nanning with the longterm goal of branching into the regional Southeast Asian market.