Xiamen Airlines Company has confirmed the order of ten Boeing 737-800 aircraft, thus bringing the Boeing company's 737 aircraft order to the 6,000 mark.

"This is an amazing milestone that reflects how much our clients appreciate the 737's technology, efficiency, safety and profit-making capability," said Alan Mulally, Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and chief executive officer.

Xiamen Airlines will take delivery of its 737-800s as of mid-2006. The airplanes will be equipped with performance-boosting blended winglets.

"This order allows us to simplify our fleet with the most cost-efficient and superior-performance airplane in its class," acknowledged Yang Guanghua, president of Xiamen Airlines. "The Boeing 737 will help us meet our goal of reducing operating costs and increasing return on investment for our shareholders. Additionally, with its passenger-pleasing interior, the new 737s will carry our customers in utmost comfort on all our domestic routes."

Xiamen Airlines, founded 21 years ago, is the first local airline company in China. The airline currently operates an all-Boeing fleet of 25 Boeing 737s and nine Boeing 757-200s on approximately 100 domestic and international routes.

Since entering commercial revenue service in 1968, the Boeing 737 fleet has carried more than 12 billion passengers and flown more than 75 billion miles worldwide. Boeing 737s have scheduled service into 115 countries and into more than 750 cites around the world. Its industry-leading reliability, fuel efficiency and low operating costs enable operators to serve both longer trans-Atlantic routes and shorter-range routes profitably.

(Xinhua News Agency December 24, 2005)