Chinese Eastern Airlines canceled a mammoth order for 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners this week in favor of the much smaller 737 aircraft, the company said.

A weaker global economy coupled with Boeing’s production delays on its biggest jumbo aircraft to date has led China’s No. 2 airline to opt for the smaller, classical jet. The company said it will buy 45 737s to be delivered between 2014 and 2016.

“We are not optimistic about the international market in the next two years, for the weakening global economy hurts air travel,” Luo Zhuping, secretary of the board of China Eastern told The China Daily. “We are making rapid moves to serve domestic demand, which is still robust at the moment,” Luo said.

The Shanghai-based carrier is the first Chinese airline to cancel orders for the Dreamliner. The good news for Boeing is that the airline is paying comparable prices for its jet order. The China Daily reported that China Eastern Airlines said it got a sizable discount on the 737s because it was such a large order, and were paying less than the list price.

Boeing isn’t the only aircraft manufacturer facing a rearranging of China aircraft orders.

China Eastern will also return five Airbus A340-300s to in exchange for 15 smaller wide-body A330s, which could be operated on domestic routes, Bloomberg reported. The total value of the A330s is $2.53 billion, the carrier said.

Source: Forbes.com

Photo: M. van Leeuwen Z.A.P.P.