Airbus wins $4.8b Xiamen Air jet order in blow to Boeing

Airbus won a deal to supply 40 jets worth around $4.8b at list prices to a unit of China Southern Airlines, cementing its lead in one of the world’s biggest aviation markets at the expense of Boeing. Xiamen Air, an all-Boeing operator, agreed to buy the A320neo-series narrowbodies for delivery from 2024 to 2027, according to a statement Thursday. The price is expected to be subject to customary discounts. It’s another coup for Airbus, which notched a deal worth $37b for the same kind of jets from four Chinese airlines in July. That deal marked China’s first major jetliner orders in three years and decisively boosted Airbus’s sales tally for this year after it lost out on orders to Boeing in 2021. Boeing has historically counted China Southern as its biggest customer in the region, but business slowed for the US manufacturer in the wake of fatal crashes of its best-selling 737 Max and rising political tensions between Washington and Beijing. Airbus also operates a local A320 assembly line in Tianjin, giving it a further advantage in the key market.<br/>