Airbus sells 292 A320 aircraft to four Chinese airlines in a blow to Boeing, as US-China tension tips balance in European maker’s favour
- Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines ordered 292 Airbus A320 jets
- Boeing said it is disappointed that “geopolitical differences” continue to constrain US jets export to world’s second-largest aviation market
The A320 aircraft, a single-aisle jet that can carry between 150 and 180 passengers depending on configurations, is listed at US$101 million each. Bulk purchases are entitled to steep discounts from catalogue prices, and the aviation industry’s rule of thumb halves the total list price for an estimate of the order’s value.
China’s state-owned airlines have 2,070 Airbus jets in their combined fleet at the end of May, according to the Chinese civil aviation regulator.
“As a top US exporter with a 50-year relationship with China’s aviation industry, it is disappointing that geopolitical differences continue to constrain US aircraft exports,” a Boeing spokesperson said on Friday in a statement, according to Bloomberg.
The plane maker continued to urge a productive dialogue between the governments of the US and China, according to a Reuters report.
The bulk order showed how China – the world’s second-largest aviation market after the United States – is showing “momentum” in its recovery from the travelling slump caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Airbus said.
China is the fastest growing aviation market for both Airbus and Boeing, where both manufacturers have established finishing assemblies - Airbus in Tianjin, Boeing in Zhoushan - to assemble the aircraft closer to their customers.
“These new orders demonstrate the strong confidence in Airbus from our customers,” Airbus’ Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said in a press release.
There are early signs that China’s strict control of international flights arrival over the past two years as part of Beijing’s attempt to contain the Covid pandemic is gradually easing due to the economic costs involved. The country’s biggest airlines such as Beijing-based Air China and Shanghai’s China Eastern have sunk into two straight years of losses by the end of 2021.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) is in talks with its counterparts in Vietnam and Thailand to allow their respective airlines to increase passenger flights to two each week from one, according to media reports in June.
The CAAC said it was negotiating with selective countries to gradually and steadily increase regular international passenger flights, a move that would be conducive for the sustainable development of the industry, according to a report by Global Times, citing CAAC’s official Liang Nan during a media briefing last month.
Total demand for global air travel in April, as measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) terms, was up 78.7 per cent from the same month a year ago, as recovery in air travel continued after more countries lift Covid-related border restrictions, according to data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Contrasting the growth however was China, as continuing strict restrictions with its nearly two-month lock-down of Shanghai since April to contain the omicron variant brought its domestic traffic down 80.8 per cent year-on-year, IATA data shows.