Toulouse, France – China Aviation Supplies Holding Co. (CAS), a state-owned enterprise, has signed a general terms agreement (GTA) with Airbus for the acquisition of 30 A330 family aircraft and 100 A320 family aircraft. The 30 A330s are the firm up of the commitment signed in June 2015. The GTA was signed in Beijing by Li Hai, president and CEO of CAS, and Fabrice Brégier, president and CEO of Airbus, in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“We are grateful to CAS, one of our longest standing customers, for its continued confidence in Airbus and in the versatile A330 family as well as the best-selling A320 family,” Brégier said.
With these 30 A330 options now firm, CAS’ total number of orders for the Airbus widebody this year is 75 aircraft. Strong demand in China for the A330 has been the key driver behind Airbus’ decision to set up an A330 completion and delivery center (C&DC) in Tianjin, China, next to the A320 family final assembly line and delivery center, according to Brégier. The Tianjin A320 line has assembled and delivered more than 240 Airbus single-aisle aircraft.
The first agreements on setting up an A330 C&DC in Tianjin were signed by Airbus and Chinese partners in March 2014 and witnessed by French President Francois Hollande and visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping. This was followed in October 2014, when Airbus, the Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ), and the Aviation Industry Corp. of China (AVIC) signed a letter of intent (LoI) in Berlin, Germany, in the presence of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, A framework agreement was signed in July 2015 in Toulouse.
According to the Airbus global market forecast, China is leading the world in passenger growth. China’s domestic air traffic will become the world’s largest within the next 10 years, and traffic volumes will quadruple in the next 20 years. In the next 20 years, Airbus forecasts a demand in China for some 5,400 new passenger and freighter aircraft including 1,700 widebody aircraft like the A330, A350, and A380.
At present, the in-service Airbus fleet with Chinese operators comprises more than 1,200 aircraft (1,000+ A320 family aircraft, 160+ A330 family aircraft, and five A380s as well as Airbus freighters and corporate jets).
The A330 has more than 1,500 orders to date, with 1,200+ flying with more than 100 operators worldwide. The A330 family seats between 250 and 440 passengers.
The single-aisle A320 family seats from 100 to 240 passengers. Airbus has sold more than 12,200 A320 family aircraft and delivered over 6,700 current engine option planes to more than 300 operators worldwide.
Source: Airbus