BEIJING - China has agreed to buy 160 Airbus planes in a deal worth over 17 billion dollars to be signed Monday during French President Nicolas Sarkozy`s visit to Beijing, a source involved in the talks said.
The purchase will include 110 planes from the short-haul A320 family and 50 A330 wide-body passenger airliners, according to the source.
The deal came after negotiations that continued almost until the last minute before the signing ceremony in Beijing`s Great Hall of the People, expected shortly before midday (0400 GMT), the source said.
Ten of the 50 A330s will go to China Southern Airlines, the nation`s largest carrier by fleet size, which made that part of the deal public in late October.
Louis Gallois, chief executive European Aeronautic, Defence and Space, the parent of Airbus, is part of a high-powered business delegation accompanying Sarkozy on his first visit to China as head of state.
In 2006, a visit by former French president Jacques Chirac saw the signing of an agreement for the sale of 150 Airbus A320s to China.
China`s domestic air traffic is expected to double every five years and aviation authorities believe three of their airlines will be among the world`s top 10 both in terms of passenger traffic and revenue by 2020.
This makes it absolutely essential for Airbus as well as US rival Boeing to be part of the market.
In a bid to cement its ties with China, Airbus began in May construction in of an assembly plant in Tianjin city 110 kilometres (68 miles) east of Beijing, its first outside of Europe.
The aircraft assembly facility is currently slated to begin operations in early 2009 and by 2011 hopes to be producing four A320 planes a month. It is expected to have produced a total of 300 planes by 2016.
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11/26/2007 03:47 GMT