Airlines Haven't Put Deposits On Planes Yet

Just how many aircraft did Airbus sell in 2005? And how many did the European consortium actually receive deposits for?

At the heart of those questions is the mammoth $10 billion deal Airbus announced during a visit by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to France last December. As was reported by Aero-News, Airbus reported China signed for 150 aircraft.

While it's true the "i"'s have been dotted on the deal, the Chinese airlines poised to receive the jets say they haven't paid any deposits on them yet.

"We have not made any down payment, as we still don't know how many A320 jets we will get," said an Air China Ltd. official to Reuters. The five other Chinese airlines involved reportedly made similar comments.

For an airliner order to be consider "firm", a deposit must be placed on the airframe. Airbus counted all 150 orders as firm when determining its 2005 record sales total of 1,055 aircraft, beating archrival Boeing by 53 planes.

An official with China Aviation Supplies Import and Export Group -- which represented the government in the purchase deal -- declined to comment on the matter, saying it was up to the individual airlines to handle their own financial affairs.

The airlines told Reuters that's true -- but that after the government decides how many aircraft each airline is to receive, each negotiates its own terms with the manufacturer. Such was the case in a similar deal Boeing reached with the Chinese last year.

Airbus maintains they've received deposits on all 150 planes... presumably, from the Chinese government directly.

"All the conditions which we usually set before reporting firm orders have been met. These include government approval and payment of deposits," an Airbus spokseman said.

If for some reason the 150 planes are not counted, that would mean Boeing actually beat Airbus, after all, for the 2005 sales crown. That's not expected to happen... but then again, on January 16 the money was on Boeing to beat Airbus for 2005, too.

As always, stay tuned.

FMI: www.airbus.com