China’s Huge New Deal With Airbus

Airbus just confirmed a landmark deal with China. This is important competitively as China was the first country to ground the Boeing 737 Max after the recent Ethiopian Airlines crash. China’s huge new deal with Airbus shows the country is happy to spread its cash and sort power around.

The deal signed on, March 25th is for purchase by Chinese airlines of a total of 300 Airbus aircraft. The agreement was signed in the presence of visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The deal is for 290 A320 Family aircraft and 10 A350 XWB Family aircraft. The A320 competes directly with Boeings 737 Max while the A350 sets its target on the B787 Dreamliner. 

This is a very large and very noteworthy deal considering the timing. In November of 2017 CAS ordered 300 Boeing planes for $37 billion at list prices during Donald Trump’s China visit. The order was to include 260 B737s and 40 B787/B777s. It remains to be seen if this order will be amended or changed.

China’s Appetite for Airplanes Keeps Growing. It’s nearly 20% off the global aviation market.

According to Airbus’ latest China Market Forecast 2018 to 2037, China will need 7,400 new passenger and freighters aircraft in the next 20 years. It represents more than 19 percent of the world total demand for over 37,400 new aircraft.

By the end of January 2019, the in-service Airbus fleet with Chinese operators totaled some 1,730 aircraft, of which 1,455 are A320 Family, and 17 are A350 XWB Family planes.

China’s huge deal with Airbus shows that China not only needs an incredible amount of aircraft but that they’re happy too spread their money around as well. It makes economic and political sense.

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The Asia Rising Editorial Team is made up of a multinational team of writers, content experts and journalists from around the world operating out of our Bureaus in New York, Bangkok, Toronto and while on assignment across Asia.