Blow to Boeing: China to buy hundreds of Airbus jets, in mammoth US$35 billion deal sealed on Xi Jinping’s France visit
- China will buy 290 A320 planes and 10 of the larger A350s in the long-awaited contract
- The A320 is the chief rival to Boeing’s troubled 737 MAX
Airbus secured a US$35 billion jet deal from China during a state visit by President Xi Jinping to the French capital, dealing a fresh blow to Boeing as it grapples with the grounding of its bestselling jet.
It was among 15 business contracts between China and France that were signed on Monday, including a €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) contract for EDF to build an offshore wind farm in China, the French presidency said.
The mammoth Airbus order included 290 A320-series narrow-body planes and 10 A350 wide-bodies, French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said at a briefing. The latest A320 Neo model has a list price of US$110.6 million and the A350-900 sells for US$317.4 million before discounts.
Boeing’s 737 MAX narrow-body, the chief rival to the A320, has been idled following two crashes in five months. The US planemaker is also struggling with the fallout from a China-US trade war that’s seen sales to the Asian nation dry up.