Airbus SAS, for decades the also-ran behind Boeing Co. in China, is set to reap one of its largest orders yet from the country as a local factory attracts Chinese carriers and air travel in the region booms.
The company may secure a contract from China for at least 100 aircraft as early as tomorrow, when Chinese President Hu Jintao visits France, four people familiar with the talks said. The accord would have a value exceeding $8 billion, the largest since French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought home a $17 billion deal for 160 jets in 2007.
In a bid to reach parity with Boeing in 2013, Airbus has added an assembly line in China, its first outside Europe. While three years ago two-thirds of large airliners in Chinese fleets were made by Boeing, Airbus will account for 45% of the total in mainland China by the end of this year, according to London-based aviation data company Ascend. Airbus entered the country in 1985, more than a decade after its U.S. rival.
“Boeing was in there early with a well-established, proven product,” said Sandy Morris, an analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland in London. “Even for Airbus to get there by 2015 would be a hell of a catch-up.”