Orders Are Okay, But No Deliveries In 2005... Er... Sort Of

Perhaps alarmed at the ire they raised worldwide last week, Chinese aviation officials worked hard last week to clarify their decision to stop accepting delivery of new commercial aircraft this year.

"We will not approve any new deliveries of planes for next year," said a spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Administration of China, quoted by the Shenzen Daily. That much we knew. But the spokeswoman was at pains to emphasize that she was talking only about deliveries -- new orders would still be written, she said.

The earlier announcement, which made Boeing executives do an almost comical double-take given the size of at least one order expected from China, will actually affect just a small number of leased aircraft. While not mentioning the deal specifically, the spokeswoman -- who didn't want to give her name -- said the ban would only affect aircraft to be delivered under short-term leases.

"The impact is minimal for Airbus and Boeing," analyst Michael Chan of investment bank BOC International in Hong Kong told the Chinese newspaper.

That big whoosh you just heard was a collective sigh of relief from both Airbus and Boeing. While Airbus predicts China will be the world's number two market for commercial aircraft (behind the US), Boeing predicts China will need about 2,300 new planes between now and 2023. Both companies are in talks with various Chinese airlines, hoping to land some big, big sales.

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