Airbus signs $10bn deal to supply 70 jets to China

Airbus has signed a general terms agreement (GTA) to supply 70 aircraft worth more than $10bn to China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS), the state-owned purchasing agency.

The deal had been frozen due to a trade row between the European Union and nations outside it over carbon emissions tax. It includes 43 A320 family jets and 27 A330 aircraft.

The GTA marks one of the several new agreements signed between Airbus and China.

Under the agreements, Airbus will fortify its mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese aviation sector in a variety of fields that include promoting Tianjin as an Asian Centre for Airbus, as well as upgrading industrial cooperation in both scale and level.

Airbus and Chinese partners Tianjin Free Trade Zone and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) have signed a new ten-year agreement extending the joint venture to assemble A320 family aircraft in China.

The ‘phase II’ will include the period from 2016 to 2025, expand deliveries to the complete Asian region, and include final assembly of the A320neo family from 2017 onwards.

In addition, capabilities of the Tianjin Final Assembly Line will be extended during the phase.

The future partnership between Airbus and China will also focus on the launch of two other areas of cooperation; supporting the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) with the latest air traffic management (ATM) to increase the capacity of Chinese airspace, and taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint.

The two parties will also develop cooperation activities on Airbus wide-body programmes.

Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Bregier said: "Our partnership with China, the mutual benefits we’ve explored, have been instrumental in furthering our global strategy, and we are honoured to have China as an essential pillar in our global setup."

---

Image: Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Brégier and CAAC’s Li Jianxiang during the signing ceremony. Photo: courtesy of T Jullien/ Airbus SAS.