China holds key to Airbus super-jumbo success
AFP, Beijing
High-flying European airliner builder Airbus has already logged dozens of orders for its new giant A380 aircraft, but success will not be complete unless it can interest China, one of the world's biggest operators. With the 2008 Beijing Olympics looming, there is speculation that a Chinese order for the twin-deck four-engine plane, which can carry some 550 passengers, will be announced at the A380's official roll-out on Tuesday, Hong Kong-based aviation analyst Peter Negline of bankers JPMorgan said. Such an announcement had already been expected when French President Jacques Chirac visited China in October, and again when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was in Beijing in early December.
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