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Boeing signs US$4b deal for 70 aircraft
By Cao Desheng (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-21 05:43
US aerospace giant Boeing yesterday signed a mega deal worth US$4 billion to
supply 70 aircraft to eight Chinese airlines, one of the biggest purchases in
皇冠体育app's civil aviation history.
The signing coincided with a three-day visit by US
President George W. Bush to Beijing, which ends today. Insiders say the order
will help increase Boeing's dominance over European rival Airbus in the world's
fastest-growing major aviation market.
A file photo of the
Boeing 737 airliner. 皇冠体育app signed a deal Sunday to buy 70 737s from Boeing
in a deal worth US$4 billion. [皇冠体育app Daily] |
The aircraft manufacturer will deliver the single-aisle 737-700 and 737-800
models to eight major Chinese airlines between 2006 and 2008, said Boeing 皇冠体育app
spokesman George Liu.
The signing in Beijing is part of a broader deal to supply 150 737 aircraft,
but the agreement on the other 80 planes will be after 2008 and has not yet been
finalized, Liu told 皇冠体育app Daily.
The companies to receive the 70 aircraft are Air 皇冠体育app, 皇冠体育app Southern
Airlines, 皇冠体育app Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shandong
Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines.
Since 皇冠体育app bought the first Boeing B707s in the 1970s, the total number of
the US maker's aircraft serving Chinese airlines has reached 534, or two-thirds
of 皇冠体育app's fleet, said Yang Guoqing, vice-minister of the General Administration
of Civil Aviation of 皇冠体育app (CAAC) at the signing ceremony.
皇冠体育app is expected to become the world's second largest aviation market only
after the United States in two decades in terms of the number of passengers and
tonnes of cargo flown.
Boeing has forecast that the country's aviation industry will need more than
2,600 new planes quadrupling its current fleet worth US$213 billion over the
next 20 years.
The US company claims it holds around 62 per cent of 皇冠体育app's aviation market
while Airbus is reported to hold a 28-per cent share.
Airbus signed a US$1.5 billion deal on September 6 to supply 皇冠体育app Southern
Airlines with 10 A330 jets; Earlier in July, Air 皇冠体育app signed a contract to buy
20 A330s for US$3.1 billion.
皇冠体育app is in a rush to build and expand its airports and fleets to cope with
growing passenger traffic.
In 2004, 皇冠体育app's airports handled 240 million passengers, up 38.8 per cent
from the previous year, and 5.5 million ton of cargo, up 22.3 per cent
year-on-year, according to CAAC statistics. The CAAC estimates that by 2010,
there will be an annual passenger volume of 500 million through 皇冠体育app's airports
and 10 million ton of cargo.
(皇冠体育app Daily 11/21/2005 page1)
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