China's Sichuan Airlines to buy eight Airbus jets
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-05-17 20:50

BEIJING - China's Sichuan Airlines has signed a deal to buy eight medium-range Airbus A319 and A320 jets.

No financial details were disclosed on Tuesday.

A spokesman at Sichuan Airlines told AFP the eight aircraft were part of a package first announced last December during the visit to Beijing of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

A contract was signed then between Airbus and the China Aviation Supply Corporation for the purchase of 23 A319, A320 and A321 jets in a deal worth close to 1.0 billion euros (1.34 billion dollars).

Eight of planes were for Sichuan Airlines.

"I'm not sure why Airbus decided to released this news again today," a company spokesman told AFP.

The aircraft are to be delivered in stages from the end of this year through to 2008 when the Beijing Olympics are held.

The sale includes six A320s and two A319s, Airbus said.

China is expected to sharply increase aircraft orders to cope with anticipated booming tourist traffic in the lead-up to the Olympics.

Last month Airbus concluded a deal with China Eastern Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines for 10 A319/A320 planes.

Airbus is locked in a dogfight with US rival Boeing for sales of jets in China, which is expected to build up a fleet of 2,800 craft in the next two decades to become the world's second-largest after the United States.