Airbus signs agreements for 68 planes

The Aviation Expo China 2013 opened in Beijing on Wednesday, with heavyweights such as Airbus SAS and Boeing Co present. A report said that there will be 5,357 new aircraft delivered to China in the next 20 years, including 3,602 single-aisle planes. Zou Hong/China Daily

Airbus SAS signed agreements to supply 68 aircraft to three Chinese clients at the Aviation Expo China 2013 in Beijing, which opened on Wednesday.

The orders are all for the Airbus 320 family, including the A320neo, the new engine version of the existing A320 aircraft, the European aircraft manufacturer said.

It didn't disclose the value of the orders.

Two of the clients are new passenger carriers that have just been approved by the Civil Aviation Administration of China.

Qingdao Airlines, which was established in June in Shandong province, chose 23 A320-family aircraft to build its fleet.

The first delivery is expected in 2016, although the airline will start operating in 2014 with some leased A320 aircraft.

"As a newly established airline, we needed to do thorough research before making a decision on what aircraft to use to start operations and build up our brand new fleet," said Xiao Liyuan, president of Qingdao Airlines.

Zhejiang Loong Airlines Co Ltd, based in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, signed a Memorandum of Understanding for 20 A320-family aircraft. That deal is subject to approval by the CAAC.

The third client is Bank of China Aviation Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Bank of China Ltd and the largest aircraft leasing company in Asia, which ordered 25 A320-family aircraft.

"The Chinese market will be the (world's) biggest in the next 20 years. We will continue to grow for sure," said Fabric Bregier, president and chief executive officer of Airbus, discussing this year's order growth in China.

There will be 5,357 new aircraft delivered to China in the next 20 years, including 3,602 single-aisle planes such as the A320, Boeing 737 and C919, the plane that the Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd unveiled at the aviation expo. And China will need 1,029 twin-aisle airplanes by 2032, according to a COMAC market outlook.

To meet demand for wide-body airplanes on regional and domestic routes, Airbus announced a new, lower-weight variant of the A330-300 in Beijing on Wednesday.

China will be one of the most important markets for the new version.

"Due to the fact that China's air traffic is growing very fast and the traffic flow is mostly concentrated in megacities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, the new A330 is a perfect solution for domestic air travel in China," said Bregier.

Compared with the current long-range A330-300, the new version can achieve an overall cost reduction of up to 15 percent, said Eric Chen, president of Airbus China.

The new version of the A330 is available for delivery from 2015, he added, but there are so far no orders for the plane.

Boeing Co - Airbus' main rival - does not fear competition from the new version of the A330.

"It isn't a real new product," said Marc Allen, president of Boeing China. It's just a change of "birth certificate", he said, not a new baby.

Boeing is also working on solutions for regional wide-body travel. The Boeing 787-family aircraft will be suitable for these routes, he said.

Boeing didn't announce its goal for orders from China this year. Boeing had delivered more than 100 aircraft to China as of this month, with more than 120 scheduled for delivery for the full year.