China Eastern Airlines has ordered 15 Airbus 330 wide-body aircraft for $2.5bn and the resale of five A340 aircraft.

The new Airbus order comprises 12 A330-200s and three A330-300s.

The aircraft will be delivered between 2013 and 2015, and are expected to boost the Chinese carrier’s capacity by 9.4%.

The airline said the aircraft will primarily be used for domestic passenger air transportation and to increase the company’s competitiveness in the passenger air transportation market.

The resale of the A340 aircraft, which will be delivered to Airbus in 2012, is intended to reduce operating costs.