Business News
Airbus to expand operations in China
Sep 14, 2006, 15:37 GMT
Hamburg - European aircraft maker Airbus said Thursday it expects a dramatic expansion of its operations in China in the coming years as the nation continues to chalk up a sharp increase in its airline business.
'China is the market with the most potential in the world,' Airbus' chief in China, Laurence Barron, told a major China business summit in Hamburg. Airline traffic in China has been growing at an annual average of 15 per cent in recent years.
Orders from China now represent about 20 per cent of Airbus' total production with the company selling 219 new aircraft to the nation last year. This compares to 56 in 2004 and 20 in 2002.
'Airbus sees unprecedented potential in China,' Barron told the summit, which was organized by the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.
As result, Barron said he expects Airbus to expand its training and parts centres in China in the coming years.
'We'll add a third flight training simulator by the end of next year and then a fourth simulator,' he said.
'We need to add the simulators to train more pilots,' Barron said. 'We'll also expand two parts centres in the next couple of years to correspond with the growth in the business.'
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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