China Airlines (CI, Taipei Taoyuan) parent, the China Airlines Group, says it will place an order for up to fifty narrowbody aircraft before the third quarter of this year. Speaking to reporters in Taipei, Group chairman Sun Hung-Hsiang said the jets will be distributed among the Group's constituent carriers, which include Mandarin Airlines (AE, Taichung Ching Chuan Kang) and Tigerair Taiwan (IT, Taipei Taoyuan), with twenty of them to be used for fleet renewal. The order will be placed when market conditions are 'favourable' Sun was quoted by the Sina news agency.

According to the ch-aviation aircraft database, the Group's narrowbody fleet currently includes sixteen B737-800s with China Airlines averaging 10 year of age, eight E190s with Mandarin Airlines, and an incoming fleet of A320-200s with Tigerair Taiwan.

Sun added that with the recent collapse in global oil prices, China Airlines is now considering returning three mothballed B747-400(F)s - msn 30760, 30761, 30762 - to revenue service to cope with a sudden surge in demand for cargo space. Overall, the Taiwanese Group is hoping to post a profit of TWD10.62 billion (USD335.06 million) for its 2014 financial year due in large part to growth in its freight business coupled with favourable jet fuel prices.