Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Boeing for the purchase of five 787-9 Dreamliners. The widebodies will be used by the airline to spread its international network further.

According to Aviation Week, the Shanghai-based carrier has additionally signed for options on five more 787-9s. Deliveries are scheduled to begin with three aircraft in 2018.

Juneyao Airlines, which operates 56 Airbus A320 family jets, now mainly focuses on domestic services, with its only international routes to points in Japan, South Korea and Thailand.

The airline plans to end 2020 with a fleet of 100 aircraft, of which 10 will be widebodies, as it targets to launch long-haul intercontinental services before the end of the decade, said Juneyao Airlines' chairman Wang Junjin.

The widebodies will be put on services to North America, Europe and Australia.

Juneyao Airlines last year carried 9.95 million passengers, a 22% jump from 2014, and expects passenger numbers to exceed 12 million this year.

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