BEIJING (AP) - Air China Ltd. said Wednesday it plans to buy 45 Boeing aircraft in one of China's biggest airliner purchases, and Malaysia Airlines revealed an order for 35 next-generation 737-800s.

The order from China Ltd. will include 15 Boeing 777 and 30 Boeing 737 aircraft, Beijing-based Air China said on its Web site. It said the list price for the aircraft is $6.3 billion but the final price paid would be lower than that.

Air China said the purchase would increase its fleet capacity by about 35 percent and help to reinforce Beijing's status as a transportation hub.

A Boeing spokeswoman in Beijing, Dai Ni, said she could not confirm that Air China and Boeing had agreed to a sale.

Air travel in China is forecast to grow by 9 percent annually in coming years, driven by a boom that saw the country's economy grow by 10.6 percent in the first quarter.

Air China's first-quarter profits jumped 147 percent, helped by the travel boom and the rise of China's currency, the yuan, against the U.S. dollar. Chinese carriers benefit from a stronger currency because they pay dollars for fuel.

Regulators are reportedly considering plans to restructure China's airlines to make them more efficient and able to compete with bigger, richer foreign carriers.

Air China is trying to establish itself as the dominant carrier amid a struggle by Chinese airlines to modernize. Air China's parent, China National Aviation Holding Co., tried to buy a stake in rival China Eastern Airlines Co. this year but was rebuffed.

The order from Malaysia Airlines was valued at more than $2.6 billion at list prices.

In the deal announced at the Farnborough Airshow, Malaysia is also acquiring purchase rights for an additional 20 of the aircraft.

Boeing Commercial Airlines vice president Scott Carson told reporters that the order had been registered in Boeing's order book as an unidentified order for several weeks.

The new fleet will replace Malaysia Airline's existing fleet of 37 737-400s, allowing the carrier to expand to points that were previously not economically viable.

"This supports our aim toward more agile and fuel-efficient aircraft for our core network in the ASEAN region, including the domestic sector in Malaysia and the fast growing economies of China and India," said the airline's chief financial officer Tengku Azmil Zahruddin.

The aircraft will be fitted with Blended Winglets, which improve fuel efficiency by up to 4 percent, increase range and reduce C02 emissions and takeoff noise.

The order took the total number of Boeing 737s ordered past 8,000.

On Monday, Etihad Airways announced a firm order worth $9 billion at list prices for 35 Boeing 787 aircraft and 10 Boeing 777-300ER.