Airbus SAS said it was in talks to sell more A380 planes to three Chinese airlines, aiming to deliver them in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Airbus, the world’s biggest maker of commercial aircraft, was in talks to sell the 555-seat A380 to Air China, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines, said Philippe Delmas, Airbus executive vice president of government relations and communications.

State-owned airlines purchased more than 140 aircraft this year valued at US$15.5 billion from Airbus, Boeing and Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica.

Its nine airlines are renewing and expanding their fleets in preparation for the 70 million visitors expected during the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.

The airlines may need 1,790 new planes, valued at US$230 billion, in the next 18 years, according to estimates by Airbus, as the nation’s air-passenger traffic grows at a pace of 8 percent a year, compared with the world average of 5.3 percent.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines, which has the country’s largest fleet with 232 aircraft, placed a US$1.4 billion order for five A380 planes in January.

It did not said when it would receive them, but delivery of the A380 would be delayed by up to six months for several of its first customers, including Singapore Airlines, Qantas Airways and Air France-KLM Group, Airbus said.

Airbus might have to pay penalties of up to US$1 million for each delayed aircraft and US$25 million in total, according to Arran Aerospace, a consulting firm in Dinan, France.

(Shenzhen Daily June 20, 2005)