Airbus gjør det bra i Kina

Airbus scores in China's domestic aviation market with $6 billion in deals
Airbus (EAD.PA) has landed deals with Chinese companies for almost 70 aircraft worth around $6 billion, as it increases its footprint in what it expects to become the largest domestic aviation market.

The European planemaker, which is battling Boeing Co (BA.N) in a market it sees surpassing the United States by passenger numbers within 20 years, has also unveiled a "regional" jet aimed at China. Domestic travel grew almost 10 percent last year in China, compared with less than 1 percent in the U.S., according to the International Air Transport Association.

Airbus, like Boeing, has been working to increase its chances of winning orders by building a visible presence in China. It sources parts from state-owned aviation companies, and assembles four single-aisle, short-range A320 aircraft a month in Tianjin.

Airbus, a subsidiary of EADS, has reached an in-principle agreement to extend the A320 assembly line beyond 2016, after eventually switch it to the A320neo which runs on a new engine, President and Chief Executive Fabrice Bergier told Reuters at the Aviation Expo China 2013 in Beijing on Wednesday.

Demand for A320-family aircraft is buoyant, with around 100 A320neo orders from mainland China, Airbus said last week.