UPDATE 1-China will still buy 30 Boeing planes (Updates throughout)
9/19/01 12:16 AM ET
By Bill Savadove
BEIJING, Sept 19 (Reuters) - China plans to go ahead with its
planned purchase of 30 Boeing (BA.N) 737 aircraft although the
signing of the deal had been delayed by the attacks on the United
States, a government official said on Wednesday.
The comments came as Boeing, the world's biggest jet maker,
slashed forecasts for deliveries and said the industry downturn
could run into 2003 as airlines cut capacity after hijacked
passenger planes slammed into New York and Washington last week.
"We will not cancel," said an official of the State
Development Planning Commission, which approves plane orders.
Airline industry officials said they were hopeful the deal
would be signed before a scheduled visit to China by U.S.
President George W. Bush next month.
"There are no plans from domestic carriers to cut the size of
their purchases. The only uncertainty about the deal is the date
of the signing," said an official at a major Chinese airline
which is taking part of the order.
A Chinese delegation had hoped to sign the deal with the U.S.
aircraft giant in the United States on Monday, but the attacks on
the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington
ruled that out.
"We might not go to the United States, at least for the time
being, because the situation there is still quite dangerous and
uncertain," the State Development Planning Commission official
said.
Boeing said on Tuesday it might deliver just 500 jets this
year, down from an earlier forecast of 538.
The company slashed its projection for 2002 deliveries to the
"low 400s" compared to the 510 to 520 previously forecast and
said the downtrend was likely to continue into 2003.
CHINA SEEN BRIGHT SPOT
China has become the battleground for Boeing and rival Airbus
Industrie [ARBU.UL], which have been hit by a fall in orders
during a global economic slowdown this year that has been made
worse by the attacks.
Boeing said in Beijing on Wednesday that China, Hong Kong and
Macau would require a total 1,764 jetliners valued at $144
billion between 2001 and 2002.
In its "China Market Forecast 2001", compiled before the
attacks, Boeing estimated Chinese carriers would be flying more
than 2,200 aircraft by 2020, making China the second largest
commercial aviation market behind the United States.
China's airlines will need 1,459 aircraft to serve the
domestic market, including Hong Kong and Macau, it said. Hong
Kong and Macau are Special Administrative Regions of China.
(Additional reporting by Harry Zhang in Shanghai) |
