European plane manufacturing consortium Airbus expects China to buy the 555-seat Airbus A380 for the 2008 summer Olympic Games.

Travelers heading to the Beijing event will be excited by flying in an A380 owned by a Chinese airline, Airbus China President Guy McLeod said.

"We believe that A380 will be the most efficient carrier to bring tens of thousands of athletes and sports fans worldwide to Beijing in 2008," he said.

The response of the Chinese civil aviation to Airbus' expectations is not known, but experts said demand for new fleets in China will rise due to the Games.

The A380, the world's largest passenger plane, is expected to go into service in 2006.

Production of A380 spare parts has already started in France, Germany and Britain.

McLeod said Airbus, which has provided China with at least 178 Airbus planes, regards it as a strategic market.

He said 1,600 planes will be needed in China in the next two decades.

McLeod said by then, the market will only be second to the United States' market.

He said China is one of Airbus' three overseas subsidiaries, in addition to the United States and Japan.

McLeod said Airbus is pursuing long-term interests in China and aims to expand its Chinese market share to 50 per cent, similar to its market achievement throughout the world.

Airbus has succeeded in enlarging its share in China, including Hong Kong and Macao, from 13 per cent in 1995 to 28 per cent more recently.

The European consortium supplied its first plane to China in 1985 and demand has increased steadily since then.

McLeod spoke positively of the stimulating effect of China's civil aviation restructuring plan.

McLeod said Chinese airlines will be reshuffled into three groups, forcing Airbus to make necessary marketing adjustments.

This year, China Eastern Airlines has confirmed it will buy 20 A320 planes.

Demand for single-aisle planes in China will rise, especially in the west.

McLeod said China will become an open market due to its integration into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Several plants in China are manufacturing aircraft parts for Airbus.

So far this year, US$200-million worth of aircraft components have been produced, compared to US$10 million last year.

In June, a Beijing-based leading Chinese plane manufacturer and Airbus announced they had achieved a significant milestone in the A320 Wing Co-operation Programme.

Presently, 2,900 Airbus planes are in service worldwide, flying for 180 airlines.

McLeod said parts made in China are in 25 per cent of the planes.

In Europe, some local engineers from the China Aviation Industry Corporation have participated in designing a newly launched 100-seat A318 plane.

At least 11 airlines in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Dragon Air, have bought Airbus planes.

( China Daily September 3, 2002)