A Boeing 737-600 passenger plane will be flown into Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, from Seattle, headquarters of the Boeing Company, on July 24.

The plane is one of the nine new-generation Boeing planes leased by China Southwestern Airlines (CSWA) for its routes from Chengdu and Chongqing, a major industrial city on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, said sources from CSWA.

It will be first such model plane to be imported to Asia.

According to an agreement signed between CSWA and GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) of the United States, the nine planes will include six 125-seat Boeing 737-600s and three 168-seat Boeing 737-800s.

Four of the nine planes will be delivered this year and the rest will arrive by May 2003, said CSWA sources.

A CSWA spokesman said that they expect Boeing 737-600s will play a big role in medium- and short-distance flight services in west China.

(Eastday.com.cn 07/14/2001)