Double blow for Airbus in China. The European aircraft manufacturer not only now has a new customer in the country, Xiamen Airlines (a subsidiary of giant China Southern Airlines), but has also secured a major firm order for 40 A320neo aircraft. The amount of the contract was not disclosed.
It is a new success for Airbus in the strategic and colossal market of the Middle Kingdom. It must be said that the airlines (prodded by authorities in Beijing) appear to have favored the planemaker for several months over its main US competitor, Boeing, in the crucial segment of single-aisle aircraft.
First for political reasons stemming from trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. Thus, China no longer balances its orders between the two aircraft manufacturers as it traditionally did and restricts its orders to the American giant.
Then, the Chinese authorities are scalded by the crash of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 last March near the city of Wuzhou, in the Guangxi region. All 132 people on board died.
Boeing less and less in the smell of sanctity in Beijing
It should also be remembered that in March 2019, the country was the first in the world to order its companies suspend flights 737 MAX aircraft for security reasons.
The announcement followed two accidents in a few months abroad, in which 346 people died.
Almost three years after these mishaps, China was the last major country to lift the flight ban on this device. Boeing had resumed its deliveries to its Chinese customers last February after a 15-month shutdown, still due to the 737 MAX file but also in the wake of the health crisis and due to the commercial litigation between China and the United States.
In 2018, Boeing delivered almost 200 planes to Chinese companies. Since then, the group has had to content itself with delivering a handful of cargo planes and a few planes ordered by leasing companies.
Still, this duopoly could be interrupted very soon by the C919 from Chinese manufacturer Comac, which should be cleared to fly very soon. Indeed, it is a short-medium range aircraft capable of transporting 158 to 174 passengers over 4075 kilometers, then it would compete directly with the popular A220 and Airbus A320 and Boeing 737.
Source: BFM TV
