The deal between Airbus and China's state buying agency, China Aviation Supplies Holding Company, which regularly coordinates headline-grabbing deals during diplomatic visits, will include 290 A320-family jets and 10 A350 wide-body jets. The larger-than-expected order, which matches an order for 300 Boeing planes when U.S. Donald Trump visited Beijing in 2017, follows a year-long vacuum of purchases in which China failed to place significant orders amid global trade tensions. China has become a key hunting ground for Airbus and its leading rival Boeing, thanks to surging travel demand. French President Macron unexpectedly failed to clinch an Airbus order for 184 planes during a trip to China in early 2018 and the two sides have been working to salvage it. Industry sources have said the year's delay in Airbus negotiations, as well as a buying freeze during the U.S. tariff row, created latent demand for jets to feed China's growth.

Source: Ethiopian News March 25, 2019 19:30 UTC