Airbus strikes deal with China amid Boeing crisis

Washington, March 26

As the US-based Boeing struggles with an ongoing crisis involving its best-selling jetliner 737 MAX, its European rival Airbus announced that it has reached a deal to sell 300 passenger jets to Chinese airlines.

The agreement was signed during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to France, CNN quoted Airbus as saying in a statement on Monday.

The order covers 290 planes from the A320 family and 10 from the A350 line, the statement said, adding the deal was a sign of strong demand from all areas of China’s rapidly expanding aviation market, including “domestic, low cost, regional and international long haul”.

The massive Airbus order comes amid the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft after the two deadly crashes involving the same plane model took place within a span of five months.

China was the first country to ground the 737 Max earlier this month following the March 10 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines flight. — IANS

Bags contract for 300 passenger jets 

• The order covers 290 planes from the A320 family and 10 from the A350 line
• The European manufacturer did not specify the total value of the deal and has not revealed any further details