Guangzhou, China, October 12, 2016. China Southern Airlines finalized an order of 12 Boening’s 787-9 Dreamliners, valued at $3.2 billion at current list prices.

“The 787 Dreamliners have helped us to achieve initial success in implementing our internationalization strategy in the past few years and enabled us to make our operation and services more appealing to passengers,” said Tan Wangeng, CEO, China Southern Airlines.

China’s largest airline by fleet size, China Southern Airlines currently operates 700 aircraft, including Boeing 787, 777, 747, 757 and 737s. By 2020, the airline expects to have a fleet of 1,000 aircraft with passenger traffic surpassing 160 million annually.

“China Southern has been a long-standing Boeing customer and we truly appreciate their confidence in the 787,” said Ihssane Mounir, senior vice president, Northeast Asia Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “The 787-9 will help the airline achieve a new level of efficiency and profitability.”