The Wuhan branch of China Eastern Airlines has ordered five Sino-Brazilian ERJ145 jets to meet a growing demand for regional airline services between Shanghai, China's largest city, and the central-southern pivotal hub of Wuhan.

The subsidiary signed the purchase agreement in Shanghai earlier this week with representatives from the Harbin Embraer Aircraft Industry Co. Ltd., a Sino-Brazilian air plane production facility based in Harbin, capital of China's northernmost Heilongjiang Province.

China Eastern did not reveal the value of the contract or time of delivery.

China Eastern, one of the country's three largest carriers, has so far ordered 10 of the 50-seat jets in addition to the five ordered by its Jiangsu branch last Wednesday in Shanghai.

ERJ-145 jets are built in Harbin under license from the Embraer Company, headquartered in Sao Jose dos Campos in Brazil. 

There are now five ERJ-145 airplanes operated by the Sichuan Airlines and six more operated by the China Southern Airlines.

Insiders have estimated that China will need more than 600 jet planes with 30 to 120 seats for feeder airlines in the next 20 years, implying a market worth of 130 billion yuan (US$15.72 billion).

China now has more than 1,200 aircraft in service and those serving short-haul airlines only account for a small portion of the total.

(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2005)