China Eastern Airlines will use Airbus A340-600 aircraft -- the world's newest commercial airliner -- next year, to replace its MD-11 passenger planes.

As the first and largest Airbus operator in China, the airline has placed an order of five A340-600s. Deliveries are scheduled to start next year.

"As the new planes join the fleet, three MD-11 aircraft, which have been in operation for about 10 years, will be grounded from the route," said Wan Mingwu, vice-president of China Eastern Airlines Co Ltd.

The new A340-600s will go into service on long-haul routes to Europe, Australia and other parts of the world, except North America, Wan said.

"The decision to buy A340-600s is to provide passengers with a shorter travel time and greater comfort during long- haul flights," he said.

Airbus has sold 43 planes to China Eastern for its middle-distance flights. An Airbus spokeswoman said Air China and China Southern Airlines also have intentions of ordering the new planes.

Airbus and China Eastern held a ceremony on Tuesday at the city's Hongqiao Airport to welcome the arrival of the high-capacity aircraft, which were flown from Hong Kong to Shanghai as part of their three-continent route-validation programme.

The A340-600s, powered by four Rolls-Royce Trent 500 engines -- which made their debut in China -- can carry 380 passengers up to 13,900 kilometres in a typical three-class layout.

Guy McLeod, president of Airbus China, said the A340-600 was launched in December 1997 and has since been engaged in an extensive certification and performance-validation programme. It will enter commercial airline service with Virgin Atlantic Airways this summer.

In addition, Airbus is developing A380 aircraft with 555 seats, which can be used as an ideal means to transport athletes and sports fans to the 2008 Olympic Games held in Beijing, McLeod said.

Wan said China Eastern is going to introduce more aircraft to expand its fleet to meet the increasing demand on the aviation transport market.

"But we have no plans at present to order the new A380 planes," he said.

( China Daily April 10, 2002)