Taiwan's China Airlines Orders 24 Boeing 787s

Part of the reason they order both 787 and A359 is that A359 can’t fit in Taipei Songshan Airport so they need 787 to replace the A333 currently deployed to Shanghai and Tokyo routes

When you think about it, the A359 is more of a A345 successor than he A343 in terms of seats. The A359 doesn't have direct successor. That would've been the proposed and now canceled A358. The closest you would get to the A343 would be the 789. While the A330neo is more capable than the 330ceo, it still falls short of the A343's range as well as the 789s cargo capacity. During the pandemic, airlines have learned that cargo is a lucrative business. And while not many, there are airlines that have operated the A343 as well as the 772ER back in it's heyday such as EK, AF, OS, CA.

JAL/ANA consistently deployed 787-8 to popular Haneda-Songshan in pre-COVID days so I am looking forward to China Airlines ups the game and bring more competition!

Nonetheless I always find it a bit odd when airlines order both the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787s. There are synergies from having more of one aircraft type, from crew training, to maintenance, to aircraft utilization.

People give the "commonality" stuff wayyyy too much priority. Yes, it's a cost saving, but they constantly overlook the other side of the coin, which is revenue potential

At the end of the day, 787+A350 is very similar to what we saw 20yrs ago with so many airlines deciding to go A330+777.

Sure A330+A340 would've made more superficial "sense," due to the common factors, but the A340 was no match for the 777 (got outsold nearly 5-to-1) and the A330 completely dominated the then-aging 767 in just about every performance category in the 200-250 seat market. Thus, the common A330+777 combo in so many major airlines' fleets, even though the two competed with each other in some categories.

Same here with 787+A350.

This was a big blow to the A330NEO's prospects of landing with a major operator, I'd say even more "devastating" than losing the already-placed Emirates order.

CI was one of the last large A330CEO operators who (1) hadn't yet gone for the 787 and (2) already had A350s in its fleet.

Cathay's about the last 1st-tier airline that the -NEO can make a splash with.

given that there were nearly 800 A330-300s delivered and most of those are still in service, it is a little much to proclaim the demise of the A330NEO based on the actions of one of one of the smaller Asia-Pacific airlines.
Since you raised the subject of the A330NEO, Airbus has managed to deliver the A330NEO far more reliably than Boeing has been able to do with the B787.
When ownership costs are fully included, there is good reason to believe that Airbus' statement that the A330NEO is the lowest cost medium sized widebody on the market. Airbus has managed to build a derivate of the A330CEO for which they can discount and still make a profit - not like the compensation delays that Boeing is having to include in many 787 sales.

more to the point, the A350 has longer range and higher size. Given that many customers that operate the 787 are ordering the A350-1000 which is the largest and longest range new generation aircraft, larger and more capable than any 787, then the dual 787/A350 fleets becomes even more understandable.

Another factor of this 350/787 operation is political, as many purchases by CAL often are. This was signed around the time of visits by US law makers.

Republic of China’s China Airline.

中華民國的航空 or in short 中華航空

Let me fix it for you Ben in case you’re not familiar with the constitution of Republic of China.