(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-02-15 07:01

HONG KONG: Airbus has begun taking orders from Chinese customers on the mainland and is expecting more this year, a senior member of the aviation giant's management team said on Wednesday.

David Velupillai, marketing director of Airbus' executive and private aviation department, said: "China has been leading the world in economic growth in recent years and this is driving the expansion of the air travel sector."

He said Airbus was expecting the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao to account for 15 of the 75 orders it expects to get from the Asia Pacific region this year.

The potential economic downturn might affect Airbus' performance in the United States but not globally, as emerging markets were growing, he said.

Francois Chazelle, who heads Airbus' executive and private aviation team, confirmed the company had received orders from the mainland, which he said was a sign the potential of the growing economy in private aviation was being unleashed.

However, he said it was difficult to predict the exact number of orders Airbus would get from the mainland as some came via agents in Hong Kong.

Airbus builds three families of corporate jetliners - the A320, A330/340/350 and the superjumbo A380, all of which have been in service for less than 20 years.

The company said it last year passed the milestone of 100 sales of its ACJ family, which comprises the A318 Elite, Airbus Corporate Jetliner and A320 Prestige.

An Asian customer that the manufacturer declined to name has placed an order for the VIP-configured Airbus A350, the newest member of its VIP wide-bodies series.

It was the second order for the jet, with the first coming from a Hong Kong-based billionaire last year.

Velupillai said Airbus has been in talks with several potential buyers of its business version of the superjumbo A380, which received its first order last year from Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Abdulaziz of the Saudi royal family.

Xinhua