Boeing 787 wins order from China's Xiamen Airlines

Boeing won its first 787 Dreamliner orders this year following a period of order cancelations.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange, China Southern Airlines, the largest carrier in China, said its Xiamen Airlines subsidiary plans to buy six 787 airplanes, Bloomberg News reported.

Boeing had lost a total of 12 Dreamliner orders earlier this year.

The Xiamen order — which is not yet final — is worth $1.1 billion at list prices, though the carrier will pay "significantly" less than this price, the filing said.

According to market data from aircraft valuation firm Avitas, the actual value of the order is estimated at about $670 million.

In 2006, Xiamen canceled a previous order for three 787s, replacing that order with six 737-800s.

In other good news for the 787 program, Rolls-Royce announced Monday that its Trent 1000 engine for the Dreamliner has won Extended Twin Engine Operations (ETOPS) approval by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), meaning it is certified to fly up to 330 minutes away from the nearest airport.

However, Boeing must separately complete extended flight tests to win ETOPS approval for the engine combined with the Dreamliner. Those flight tests are expected to begin soon.