On July 3, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China and Airbus' orders worth RMB 240 billion triggered heated discussions. According to media analysis, this transaction was the largest single order with the largest order volume and the highest order amount in th

On July 3, orders of up to 240 billion yuan from China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Air China and Airbus sparked heated discussions. According to the media, this transaction is the largest order quantity and the highest order amount in the history of the three major airlines. Order. Although 240 billion yuan is the catalog price, and it will not be so expensive with discounts, 292 aircraft is not a small number. Why did the three major airlines all choose Airbus? Why not buy a domestically produced C919 aircraft?

A320NEO aircraft (data map)

Chinese aviation companies update their passenger aircraft relatively quickly. It is roughly estimated that nearly 400 aircraft need to be purchased every year. At present, some of the aircraft currently in service in the country are more than 10 years old and it is time to replace them. Judging from the response on the Airbus official website, this order has been discussed for a long time during the epidemic. In this order, the three major airlines purchased a total of 292 aircraft, which is within the normal purchase range.

Moreover, it is relatively cheap to buy an airplane now. Affected by the epidemic, the aircraft sales industry has excess capacity and offers relatively large discounts. It should be more cost-effective for the three major airlines to jointly place orders.

Screenshot of Airbus official website

Airbus has cooperated with my country for a long time. In 2008, Airbus opened an A320 series aircraft final assembly line in Tianjin. In 2017, the A330 aircraft completion and delivery center was opened in Tianjin. This is Airbus's first wide-body aircraft completion and delivery center outside Europe. In 2019, the Memorandum of Understanding on Further Development of Industrial Cooperation signed with Airbus also marked the further strengthening of the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

The Airbus Tianjin final assembly line can assemble A319, A320, A319NEO and A320NEO

Among the aircraft currently equipped by the three major airlines, narrow-body aircraft account for 70 to 90%. The A320NEO aircraft mainly purchased this time is the latest generation of narrow-body aircraft from Airbus. It is an improved model of the A320 series aircraft. The fuel efficiency of the single-seat is 20% higher than that of the A320 series. The A320NEO is now Airbus's flagship aircraft. A leading product in the single-aisle narrow-body machine market.

Looking back at the Boeing Company 's Boeing 737 Max model in the "duopoly", after two consecutive fatal crashes, China and other users have grounded the model, which seriously set back the subsequent development of the Boeing 737 Max model. . Boeing ’s delivery volume of passenger aircraft in 2021 is 340. Airbus delivered a total of 611 passenger aircraft in the same year. Boeing’s delivery volume is only about half of Airbus’s. Although Boeing is gradually advancing the return of the 737 Max, it is still difficult to fully resume normal use in a short period of time, and the current purchase of Boeing aircraft may still have some non-economic impacts. Therefore, the purchase of additional Airbus aircraft by the three major airlines is a suitable choice in terms of safety and economy.

A320NEO aircraft

Airbus has been the world's largest aircraft manufacturer for three consecutive years. As soon as this record-breaking order came out, the American Boeing Company expressed "very disappointed" and believed that it was geopolitical differences that caused the export of American aircraft to suffer. restrictions, and hope that China and the United States can have a good discussion. However, this behavior of blindly hyping this cooperation from geopolitical aspects without reflecting on its own technological improvements and aircraft safety will not improve Boeing's declining market share in China.

The C919 passenger aircraft that will be delivered to China Eastern Airlines /China Commercial Aircraft Pictures

As for why not choose the domestic aircraft C919? This is because the C919 is still in the airworthiness certification stage, and it will take some time before it is officially put into commercial operation. Moreover, some problems will be discovered during initial use and production capacity will take time to solve. During this period, civil aviation still needs to purchase aircraft to ensure transportation capacity. But there is no need to worry about the sales of the C919. Civil aviation companies have a relatively large demand for replacement aircraft. China may need to purchase more than 5,000 aircraft in the next 15 years. The current order with Airbus will not be able to meet the needs of airlines in the next few years. need.