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Rolls-Royce said it won a US$1.5b order for its Trent 700 engines from China Eastern Airlines to power 15 of the carrier's Airbus A330 aircraft. Rolls-Royce said its Trent 700 engine had been chosen for about 70% of new A330 orders over the last 5 years. That engine, however, is behind some of the company's current difficulties - its profit is forecast to more than halve this year - as some airline customers wait for the newer, more fuel efficient Trent 7000, which powers the A330neo, leading to lower pricing on the Trent 700. Rolls-Royce said under the deal announced Wednesday it would also provide China Eastern with maintenance services for the engines as part of its TotalCare offering. <br/>

China Southern Airlines subsidiary Xiamen Airlines is speeding up the pace of its international expansion. The carrier is scheduled to launch a new route from Fuzhou, China, to New York Feb 15, 2017. The airline expects to operate Boeing 787-9 aircraft with 30 business seats and 257 economy seats on the new route. Xiamen Airlines will operate the route 3X-weekly and has started to sell tickets worldwide. Xiamen Airlines is committed to exploring the US market’s growth potential because of the explosive growth in Chinese citizens’ outbound travel in recent years. This has especially occurred as the US govt has eased visa access for Chinese citizens. The carrier is also scheduled to open a Xiamen–Shenzhen–Seattle route Sept 26, and Xiamen–Los Angeles service in 2017. <br/>