Airbus looks to Asia for sales of A380

Hong Kong: Airbus expects Chinese airlines to order 113 A380s over the next 20 years, and an average of 100 to 150 Airbus aircraft each year in the next five years.
In an effort to drum up sales in Asia for the A380, the world's largest passenger jet, one of them cruised past Hong Kong's skyline twice Monday.
Asia and China are a pivotal battleground between Airbus and its rival, Boeing, both of which are battling to sell jetliners to the country's three leading carriers: China Southern Air, China Eastern and Air China.
"Over the next year we will see incremental orders from China for A380," John Leahy, Airbus's chief operating officer for customers, said on the first day of the Asian Aerospace forum. "The demand in the Chinese market will see, for us, around 100 to 150 aircraft each year for the foreseeable future, which is one of the reasons that we decided to put our own assembly line in China."
In 2005, Airbus predicted that China would need 200 jumbo jets like the A380 over the next 20 years. Last month, China adopted a series of measures aimed at reining in rapid growth in air traffic that has begun to raise concerns about safety.
Applications to start new airlines will be suspended until 2010, and the growth of existing airlines will be subject to government controls, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China said on its Web site on Aug. 15.
03/09/07 Reuters/The Associated Press/International Herald Tribune

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Categories: Asian Aerospace Expo 2007, Foreign Sep 2007, General Aviation Sep 2007