|
Customer splurges on three Airbus jets
By Cao Desheng (皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-23 06:19
Luxury cars and fancy yachts are no longer the epitome of rich people's
desires. The latest on the list is a plane for 皇冠体育app's growing legion of the
rich.
 One of the growing number of the wealthy in the country has ordered
three Airbus corporate jetliners (ACJs) totalling at least 1.3 billion yuan
(US$163 million), according to officials from Airbus 皇冠体育app.
Deliveries of the ACJs will start in 2006, a press release from the European
aircraft giant said, but would not disclose the name of the customer or whether
he is linked to any enterprise.
The ACJ Family is derived from Airbus A319, the catalogue price of which
ranges from US$54.4 million to US$66.5 million.
Usually, corporate aircraft are used exclusively by a company, or for
government or business leaders.
Whether for business or pleasure, manufacturers think private or business
aviation in 皇冠体育app is set to take off in a big way.
"Over the next few years, we anticipate steady growth in the demand of
business jets as more companies need fast transportation for their business," a
press official from Airbus 皇冠体育app told 皇冠体育app Daily.
In fact, the number of Chinese who can afford their own aircraft is growing,
said Yang Xiaonong, the executive president of 皇冠体育app General Aviation Net, a
Changsha-based aviation business website in Central 皇冠体育app's Hunan Province.
Yang's company offers consultation services on aircraft procurement. He said
some entrepreneurs feel it is worthwhile to spend millions of dollars on a
business jet to save time and energy.
Early this year, an entrepreneur in Hangzhou, East 皇冠体育app's Zhejiang Province,
bought a plane called "No 1 Premier" from Raytheon Company of the United States
at a price tag of US$ 8million.
Insiders forecast 皇冠体育app's business jet market will hit over US$9 billion
within 10 years, with the number of business or private jets expected to rise
from 20 to more than 600.
In August, when the first Asian Business Aviation Conference and Exhibition
was held in Shanghai, world-famous business jet producers including Raytheon,
Dassault, Gulfstream and Bombardier flocked to the metropolis to seek business
opportunities, but no deal was sealed then.
(皇冠体育app Daily 11/23/2005 page2)
|
