China Eastern Airlines will announce to order 20 Airbus A350-900 aircraft and 15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners soon, sources familiar with the matter disclosed via BBS of CARNOC.com, sister website of China Aviation Daily.

According to the sources, the Shanghai-based carrier would sign the purchase agreements with Airbus and Boeing respectively in the near future, this Friday at soonest. Deliveries for 787-9s will start June 2018, while China Eastern is scheduled to take delivery of its first A350 in the second half of 2018.

An insider predicted China Eastern will place the 10 787-9s for Shanghai Airlines, with the rest five ones for China Eastern Yunnan Airlines, to replace their nine Airbus A330s for fleet simplification. The new A350 wide-body aircraft will be used by China Eastern for its long-haul expansion.

Three Chinese airlines will become 787-9 operators in 2016. Air China is expected to take delivery of China's first 787-9 Dreamliner on May 5, followed by Hainan Airlines on May 19 and Xiamen Airlines on December 6.

To boost it long-haul network, China Eastern plans to expand its fleet of aircraft to more than 800 by 2020, up from 561 as of the end of 2015, its president Ma Xulun said in an interview on April 15.

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