China’s Shandong Airlines plans to increase its fleet to more than 140 aircraft by the end of 2020, nearly doubling its present total, the company said recently.

“The plan is made to cater to the rapidly expanding domestic carrier industry,” said Ma Chongxian, chairman of the company, which is based in Jinan, capital of East China's Shandong province.

The airline already operates 74 passenger aircraft, including 67 Boeing 737 planes. It aims to add its fleet to more than 100 aircraft by the end of next year, which could handle 21 million passengers annually, Ma said.

The company signed a contract with US based Boeing Company last month to buy 50 Boeing 737 passenger airplanes.

The order includes the purchase of 16 Boeing 737-800s and 34 Boeing 737MAX models. The base price of the total order was about $4.6 billion.

The company will receive the aircraft in batches between 2016 and 2020.

By Wang Qian