China Southern Airlines said it has signed a deal worth 1.842 billion U.S. dollars with U.S. aircraft manufacturer Boeing.

The Guangzhou-based airline will buy six Boeing 777 freight planes, which will be delivered between November 2008 and July 2010.

China Southern also announced that it had approved a contract by which Boeing will supply its subsidiary Xiamen Airlines with six Boeing 737-800 passenger planes, starting in 2010.

The new planes will increase Xiamen Airlines' passenger transport capacity by 2.4 percent and China Southern Airlines freight capacity by 25.7 percent.