China Eastern Mulls Contract

In a country expected to be the world's second-biggest commercial aviation market within 20 years, both Boeing and Airbus are working hard to make inroads. Initially, neither airplane manufacturer appears to have the upper hand.

China Eastern Airlines is reportedly close to signing with Airbus for ten A330s, while Boeing has hinted for weeks that it's working on a major deal in China as well. China Eastern says it will probably have an announcement on the purchase of new aircraft sometime close to its June 18th annual meeting.

Both China Eastern and Airbus are playing it cool for the moment.

"It's public information that we are speaking to them (China Eastern)" about potential aircraft sales, an Airbus spokeswoman in Paris told Reuters.

"Ordering aircraft is a very sensitive thing," said China Eastern spokesman Luo Zhuping.

But China Eastern has also reportedly been very interested in the Boeing 7E7. Recently, Boeing so far hasn't made any comment on a possible deal.

However, in April, Boeing 7E7 Senior Vice President Mike Bair hinted that the 7E7 was fast becoming a big hit in Asia. "I think we'll see something happening in China in the relatively near term," he said.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com