(Yicai) Dec. 25 -- Air China, the country’s flagship carrier, has unveiled plans to purchase a total of 17 China-made new aircraft, which will be delivered in the next two years.

Air China will buy six narrow-body aircraft C919 and 11 regional jets ARJ21 from their developer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China for CNY7.6 billion (USD1.1 billion), the Beijing-based carrier announced late on Dec. 22.

Air China plans to raise CNY6 billion from its controlling shareholder China National Aviation Holding through a private placement and use CNY4.2 billion of the proceeds to purchase the new jets, the carrier noted. The remaining CNY1.8 billion will be used to supplement working capital.

The list prices of the C919 is USD108 million, cheaper than its overseas competitors Boeing 737-MAX 8 and Airbus A320neo, which are priced at USD122 million and USD111 million, respectively. The listed price of the ARJ21 is USD38 million, according to Air China. List prices are generally higher than actual transaction prices.

Comac delivered its first ARJ21 in 2015, with such airplanes having carried over 10 million passengers as of last month. The latest model C919 was first delivered in December last year to China Eastern Airlines, which now has a total of three C919. The Shanghai-based carrier is the only one to have C919 jets among its fleet.

Orders for the C919 have risen to 1,061, Comac’s Chairman He Dongfeng said at the Pujiang Innovation Forum in Shanghai in September. The company also plans to develop variants of the C919, extending the range of seats to 130 to 240 from 158 to 168, He added.

In the statement on Dec. 22, Air China also announced that it plans to raise more than HKD2 billion (USD226 million) from a unit of CNAHC by issuing non-public Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed shares to supplement its general operating funds.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione