Airbus delivers first China-built plane to owner

TIANJIN, China - Airbus delivered its first plane assembled outside Europe to its Chinese owner on Tuesday, as the world’s largest plane maker extends its reach into fast-growing markets to fend off rival Boeing.

Airbus, owned by European consortium EADS, handed Dragon Aviation Leasing a A320 plane emblazoned with a bright yellow dragon that coiled around the length of the fuselage, a further sign of China’s growing clout in the global aviation industry.

“China is certainly a centrepiece of our strategy,” Airbus Chief Executive Tom Enders said at the delivery ceremony.

“We are not just selling aircraft to China, but designing aircraft, manufacturing aircraft and supporting aircraft in China,” said Enders.

Airbus — which owns 51 percent of the venture, partnering with Chinese state investors — began assembling the A320 in the port city of Tianjin near Beijing in September from parts made mostly in Europe. It plans to assemble four planes a month in China by the end of 2011.

But the milestone comes as Boeing and Airbus are headed for their worst annual order tally in at least 15 years as struggling airlines cancel or defer almost as many planes as they are buying.

In addition, China is spreading its own wings, as the country’s first regional aircraft, the 90-seat ARJ21-700 jet, made its maiden test flight late last year and is scheduled for commercial delivery in mid-2010.

The country’s broader ambition is to eventually challenge the global dominance of Airbus and Boeing for long-haul and wide-bodied planes, although analysts have said that such a goal is lofty and could take decades.

“Our industrial footprint in China will expand considerably in the coming years,” said Airbus China President Laurence Barron.

Barron said his company now purchases more than $100 million in components, including door frames, wings and composite materials, from China, and that figure that is expected to reach $500 million by 2015.

“This demonstrates the deep commitment of Airbus to build a strong future for China’s aviation industry,” Airbus CEO Enders said.

Rough weather

The airline industry is expected to lose $9 billion this year alone, according to the International Air Transport Association, battered by weak travel demand in an economic downturn, high fuel prices and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

The tough economic times have hastened the move toward globalisation, an Airbus strategy that has been criticised by European workers and governments that say it could result in the loss of European technology to a potential jet-making rival.

“There is no cooperation in industry without a certain transfer of knowledge, processes and technology,” said Enders. “It’s not just in China, but everywhere in the world.”

China can often influence that cooperation because of the leverage gained from its huge demand for goods.

China Eastern Airlines, one of the country’s top three carriers, said last week it was committed to buying buy 20 Airbus A320 aircraft for $1.45 billion at list price, as part of a much larger order that China made in 2007.

Chinese firms have ordered more than 700 aircraft from Airbus, the majority of which are in the A320 family.

Enders noted that 15 percent of Airbus deliveries currently go to China.

“I think that’s very impressive and I have no doubt we will get more orders out of the Chinese market,” he said. “Chinese demand for modern airlines is immense.”

The plane maker has estimated China would need more than 3,000 large aircraft by 2025, including 180 super-jumbo passenger jets.

“So for us not to be in China would be a mistake,” Enders said.

No Joke: Ryanair Really Wants to Charge for Toilets

Considering we've been down this road before, and taking into account Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary's reputation as the walking embodiment of "there's no such thing as bad press," I'm withholding a scrap of hope that what I'm about to type is some sort of PR stunt—but I don't think it is:

Ryanair actually plans to charge passengers to use the bathroon

The Guardian is reporting that O'Leary has asked Boeing "to look at putting credit card readers on toilet locks for new aircraft." He also wants to remove two of the three bathrooms on his airline's aircraft and replace those bathrooms with up to six seats.

Here it is, straight from the horse's mouth: "We are flying aircraft on an average flight time of one hour around Europe. What the hell do we need three toilets for? ... It's not because we need to generate money from the jacks. But ... if you get rid of two [toilets] you can get six seats on a 737. They will all be scurrying to the toilet before the departure gate."

To be fair, I can see his point. Ryanair essentially acts as a bus service in the sky, and can reasonably expect passengers to cross their legs while onboard or, as O'Leary put it, scurry to the loo in the airport before departure. And after all, your average bus only has one bathroom, which is usually adequate. Of course, your average 737 carries three times as many passengers as your average long-distance bus.

Still, no matter how you try to justify it, there's just something a bit underhanded about charging to use the bathroom. Imagine you weren't feeling well or had a sudden bout of air sickness and rushed off to the bathroom only to find you have to pay for the privilege of using the lavatory. Or imagine you're flying with a baby and you need to change a diaper. Or imagine you simply had a big cup of coffee at the airport—you get the idea.

Ah, but Mr. O'Leary has already thought about all that. Here's what he had to say: "All this pious stuff about ... you can't charge for entering the toilet. All right then, we'll charge you to exit the toilets."

I guess there's no such thing as bad press. After all, Ryanair just got itself 400 words in this space, free of charge. But open disdain for your customers? I can't imagine that's ever a good thing—not when it comes to publicity, and certainly never when it comes to policy.

Readers, what do you think? Is Ryanair serious about charging for bathrooms, or is this just a warped PR stunt? And what about O'Leary? Is he simply giving voice to what all airline CEOs think but are afraid to say aloud? Leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Boeing announces $6.3B Air China order for 737s and 777s

Boeing Co. said it’s signed a deal with Air China for 15 777s and 30 737-800s.

The deal is worth $6.3 billion at list prices.

Officials at Boeing (NYSE: BA) announced the deal at the Farnborough air show in the United Kingdom and said the order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer on its website.

Boeing said it has 350 unfilled orders for the Everett-built wide-body 777 and 2,200 unfilled orders for the Renton-built 737.