China to get 100 Airbus planes this year

Aircraft giant Airbus will deliver over 100 passenger planes to China this year, the company said Saturday.

The market share of Airbus in China's wide-bodied aircraft market has now reached more than 60 percent, with over 110 Airbus A330 planes in operation, Xinhua cited the company as saying.

Fabrice Bregier, Airbus president and CEO, attributed the company's achievements in China to a strategy of carrying out extensive and in-depth cooperation with the country's aviation industry.

Air China, the country's leading carrier, and its subsidiary Shenzhen Airlines signed deals at the end of May to buy 100 Airbus 320-series planes for $8.85 billion.

Airbus said that the A320's "high reliability" and "low operational cost" have appealed to Chinese airlines. The A330 offers a solution for airport congestion in large Chinese cities as larger planes can carry more passengers with fewer flights.

Airbus delivered its first aircraft to China in 1985. The number of Airbus planes in operation in China by the end of April stood at 914, the company said.