Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific announced plans to buy 30 new airplanes for almost $8 billion, underlining the carrier’s expansion as it reported strong first-half profit.

In a statement to Hong Kong’s stock exchange, Cathay said the total catalogue price for the Airbus A350-900s would be approximately $7.82 billion.

The planes, powered by two new generation Rolls-Royce Trent XWB (Xtra Wide-Body) engines, will be delivered between 2016 and 2019 to form the backbone of the airline’s mid-size widebody fleet for long-haul flights.

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