Airbus sees market share in China rising to 50% in 8 years

"Ten years ago, we only had 9 pct. Now we have 28 pct. An increase of three times in 10 years is not bad," said Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China.

"We're saying, we can get to 50 pct in eight years, but let's make it five to six years instead. How do we do that? We have to continue to do better."

He was speaking following a news conference on the sidelines of the Aviation Expo/China 2005 -- the 11th air expo held in the Chinese capital which this year attracted 175 exhibitors from 21 countries and regions, including the top global players.

Boeing which has been in the Chinese market for more than 30 years, compared to Airbus which entered the market in 1985 holds a 63 pct share of the mainland market, the fastest growing in the world.

But Airbus said that in the past five years, Chinese airlines have increasingly placed orders for Airbus aircraft.

"This year we expect to deliver 65 new aircraft to the China region (including Hong Kong and Macau)," Barron said.

That would mark a significant increase on the 44 Airbus planes delivered to the region last year.

The number of planes sold this year to the China region also rose significantly, Barron said.

So far this year Airbus has sold 69 planes to mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau, breaking last year's record of 52.

Deliveries take one to three years after an order is placed.

Most of the planes delivered and sold were to mainland China, with only a handful to Hong Kong and Macau, Barron said.

But he added Airbus "still had a lot of work to do" to close the gap on Boeing.

"We still are lagging way behind Boeing in terms of aircraft in service in China," Barron said. "We do still have a lot of work to do."