French president Emmanuel Macron gave a horse to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, but handing over the Airbus A380 has proved more difficult.
French president Emmanuel Macron gave a horse to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, but handing over the Airbus A380 has proved more difficult.
The visit started with talk about Airbus offering China a production role on its superjumbo aircraft to secure a program-extending order for the slow-selling jet. While discussions were held on sales of the A380, according to Macron, there’s no sign yet of any new orders or industrial deal for the double-decker plane.
There was a time when China taking a production role on the A380, a symbol of European industrial cooperation and technological accomplishment, would have been unthinkable. Times have changed.
Offering China what amounts to largely cosmetic work on the A380 — things like the cabin equipment and paint job would be added locally — would be a small price to pay to rescue the program, which risks being shut down due to a dearth of fresh orders.
If China can be persuaded to accept in the coming weeks or months, in return for purchasing more of the aircraft, Airbus should seize a much-needed helping hand. There’s no guarantee China will offer one though.
On paper at least the A380 is well-suited for the Chinese market. The world’s most populous country has congested skies and airports, which frequently leads to long delays. And air traffic there is poised to increase, a lot.
Cramming as many people as possible onto a plane might therefore make sense on particularly busy routes. Airbus thinks cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou are candidates to become ”super-hubs”, which would also suit the A380 business case.
