China Eastern Airlines orders 50 A320's with Airbus

China Eastern Airlines said yesterday it had agreed with Europe-based Airbus to buy 50 A320 airliners with a list price of $3.22 billion (Dh11.8 billion), in the latest sign of the country's aviation boom. China Eastern said in an announcement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange the aircraft would be delivered in stages from 2012 to 2015 and would expand its capacity by 11.24 per cent including the fleet of its Shanghai Airlines subsidiary. The airline did not disclose the price of its acquisition but said the Airbus consortium had granted it a significant price concessions. The announcement marks the latest in a line of large deals by some of the bigger players in China's burgeoning aviation market.