China Eastern Airlines In Talks To Delay Delivery Of Current Orders

Global economic woes and fleet overcapacity are putting a damper on new airliner orders and deliveries to Chinese carriers, a previously growing market plane manufacturers had hoped would be a light at the end of the tunnel to help see them through uncertain times.

As ANN reported, Airbus had anticipated an intense growth period in China over the next 20 to 30 years, predicting a need in excess of 3,000 planes over the period, including 180 super jumbo airliners. Ramping up production to meet the expected demand for more planes, Airbus opened its third final assembly line for the A320 in Tianjin, China just last September.

CNN reports that last week China Eastern Airlines Chairman Liu Shaoyong announced negotiations had begun to delay the delivery of some planes from Airbus. "The talks between us and Airbus (on the issue) are going smoothly," Liu said, but did not elaborate.

Earlier this month, China Eastern Airlines said that despite existing contracts with Airbus and Boeing, it would limit deliveries during 2009 to just 13 planes.

A statement from Airbus released last week denied rumors that no new orders were expected from Chinese carriers during 2009, contradicting previous Bloomberg News reports leaked by two unidentified Airbus executives.

While admitting the Chinese market is "challenging," the official word from Airbus said those reports were "untrue," further stating that "We are in steady talks with our Chinese customers," the statement read.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.flychinaeastern.com