TransAsia Airways intends to buy at least six A321s to fly a new Singapore route from June and for flights to China, a company official said without giving financial details.

The company last year placed an order for two wide-body A330-300 aircraft and six single aisle A321 jets for a total amount of about $900 million.

It has flown aircraft made by the European firm since 1995. It currently has five mid-size A321s and two A320s, which it uses on domestic and regional routes, as well as 13 destinations in China.

TransAsia Airways reported a net profit of Tw$900 million ($30 million) last year as it got a revenue boost from its China routes.

Taiwan and China are planning to increase their cross-strait weekly flights by a third to 500 amid closer ties between the two and rising demand.