In April 2005, the Hong Kong Air Transport Licensing Authority (ATLA) granted a five-year licence to transport passengers, cargo and mail to China; the airline was free to apply for traffic rights to 10 cities in China. Then in July, the airline announced the imminent purchase of two Bombardier CRJ700s from Danish carrier Maersk Air. At year-end, a Memorandum of Understanding with Boeing for the purchase of 10 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 30 Boeing 737-800s for US$3.28 billion took the business to the next level. Some of the aircraft were from a prior Hainan Airlines order.