Airbus, the European planemaker, has confirmed that it has secured orders for 300 of its jets from the top-three Chinese state airlines, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines. Boeing was quick to point to Airbus’ success as a consequence of “constructive dialogue” between Beijing and European governments, while pushing for Chinese and US governments to recommence productive discussions. Airbus, however, chose not to place any credit on political diplomacy, instead crediting the successful order as being down to “strong confidence in Airbus”.
Announcing the news almost simultaneously, Air China and China Southern Airlines, said each had agreed to purchase 96 A320neo-family jets, while China Eastern has placed an order for 100 of the same family of jets. The whole order has a book value of approximately US$37.2 billion (£30.7 billion), though heavy discounts are usually offered for substantial orders and China Eastern Airlines has confirmed that the discount it had secured was larger than usual.
The purchase will be subject to approval from the Chinese government, with deliveries from 2023 through to 2027 and the bulk of the delivery in 2024. While China Eastern is still suffering from the fall-out following the crash of a Boeing 737-800 back in March this year, the 737 MAX has not yet recommenced commercial flights in China, despite the grounding order on the jet having been lifted at the end of last year.
