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Airbus spearheads deals on Chirac’s China trip

Airbus, majority-owned by European space agency EADS, was the biggest beneficiary of French President Jacques Chirac’s commerce-driven sweep through China as Paris strives to carve out a bigger share of China’s giant market.

Tolouse-based Airbus clinched deals with Air China and China Eastern airlines.

Air China signed off on the purchase of 6 Airbus A319 planes, valued for their performance at some of the world’s highest airports, in Latin America and Tibet.

Air China also signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 16 of Airbus’s A330s, a twin-engine plane its maker says boasts some of the lowest operating costs of any aircraft ever designed.

With an official price tag of $130 million apiece, the order would eventually bring Airbus $2.08 billion.

China Eastern Airlines, meanwhile, confirmed its order for 20 of Airbus’ A330s.

“This agreement marks a new milestone in the longstanding cooperation between our two companies,” Airbus Chairman Noel Forgeard said of the deal with China Eastern, Airbus’ first and largest customer in the country.

Airbus’s fleet in China has grown to 250 aircraft since it first entered the Chinese market with 29 planes in 1985. Airbus said 5 Chinese companies are now involved in producing parts for Airbus planes.

Accompanying Chirac on the visit to China, Forgeard said Airbus had concluded a cooperation agreement with AVIC 1, a subsidiary of its China’s Aviation Industry Corp, that includes producing wing parts for its mammoth A380 jumbo.

That deal will be seen as move to encourage China to purchase the A380, a 555-seat double-decker aircraft, although Forgeard denied there was any link.

Chirac’s trip also yielded significant contracts for other French industrial companies, including utility Suez and heavy engineering firm Alstom.

Alstom, rebuilding its business after being hauled back from the verge of financial collapse, said on Saturday it had won a contract to supply 60 trains and 180 freight engines to China worth one billion euros ($1.23 billion).