The airline plans to transition from its older 747 freighters to a more modern twin-engine cargo planes on high-yielding routes from Taipei to North America and Europe, China Airlines Chairman Hsieh Su-Chien said.

"Air cargo is an important part of our overall business and the introduction of these new Boeing 777 freighters will play an integral role in our long-term growth strategy," he said in a statement after the deal was announced at the Paris Airshow.

The air cargo market has had a weak start to 2019, but Boeing has forecast it will double over the next 20 years.

(Reporting by Jamie Freed, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)