Mon, Jan 03, 2005
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.
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