Airbus confirmed on Friday that it had sold 292 A320neo family aircraft to three Chinese groups, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Air China, which will also transfer part of the planes to subsidiary Shenzen Airlines.
The deals come as the Chinese jetliner C919, developed by COMAC, and a virtual rival to the A320neo, suffers delays in its certification program.
The biggest order came from China Eastern, which purchased 100 A320neo family aircraft for about $2.8 billion, without specifying which variants.
China Southern, meanwhile, has ordered 96 jets that will be received between 2024 and 2027, with 30 aircraft scheduled for 2024, 40 in 2015, 19 in 2026 and seven in 2027.
Air China also closed a deal for 96 A320neos, 32 of which will be transferred to Shenzhen.
“These new orders demonstrate the strong confidence in Airbus from our customers. It is also a solid endorsement from our airline customers in China of the performance, quality, fuel efficiency and sustainability of the world’s leading family of single aisle aircraft,” said Christian Scherer, Airbus Chief Commercial Officer and Head of International.
Airbus revealed that until May the fleet of its models in China reached 2,010 aircraft.
The orders tumbled shares in Boeing, whose 737 MAX is also operated by those Chinese airlines. The aircraft remains banned from flying in the Asian country due to fatal accidents in 2018 and 2019.
