中国下周或向空客订购至多70架A330

Airbus is hoping to clinch one of its biggest Chineseorders by value next week as it enters the final stageof a two-year negotiation over the sale of up to 70A330 wide-body jets.

空中客车(Airbus)期待下周搞定其历史上金额最高的中国订单之一。目前，空客与中国围绕向中方销售至多70架A330宽体客机展开的长达两年的谈判已进入最后阶段。

If the contract is signed when Chinese Premier LiKeqiang stops off in Toulouse next week, Airbuswould be close to securing the orders it needs tokeep its production line running while it makes thetransition from the existing A330 to a new re-engined version due to enter service in 2017.Bridging that gap is crucial to managing production costs and retaining skills.

如果这份合同在中国总理李克强下周访问图卢兹期间签署，空客将接近于搞定保证其生产线持续运转所需的订单。空客正在从现有的A330转向一款换装新引擎的A330，新款A330预计将于2017年服役。填补订单缺口差距对管控生产成本和保有技能至关重要。

The Chinese government is understood to be discussing an order of between 50 and 70 A330aircraft, including the regional version of the twin aisle jet, worth up to $17.8bn at brochureprices.

据悉，中国政府将商议订购50至70架A330客机，包括该双通道客机的区域版，按价目表的价格计算，这一订单价值最高178亿美元。

Airbus’s biggest Chinese order to date was last year’s booking by the government’s aviationprocurement agency, CASCG, for 150 A320 narrow bodies at a list price of $15bn. The priceactually paid is likely to be significantly lower than the list price, given the volume andimportance of the deal.

空客迄今金额最高的中国订单是去年与中国政府航空采购部门中国航空器材集团公司(CAS)签下的，后者以150亿美元的价目表价格订购150架A320窄体客机。鉴于这笔交易的体量以及重要性，实际支付的价格很可能远低于价目表价格。

People close to the discussions were cautiously confident that a deal could come next week,though they stressed that there was still a chance that the Chinese government could fail tosign the contract.

了解A330购机谈判的人士对下周达成交易表示审慎乐观，但他们强调，中国政府未能签署合同也是有可能的。

Beijing has targeted significant airport investment, given rapidly rising demand for air travel andanalysts estimate China will need some 6,000 new and replacement aircraft to fulfil carriers’needs. Airbus predicts that by 2025 China will be the largest market for domestic air travel inthe world, overtaking the US, strengthening the case for the regional jet.

由于航空旅行需求快速上升，中国政府已制定了大举投资建设机场的目标。分析人士估计，中国将需要大约6000架新机和替换机来满足航空公司的需求。空客预测，到2025年，中国将取代美国成为全球最大的国内航空旅行市场，这将加大对区域型客机的需求。

For Airbus, this order is crucial to meeting its target of producing six A330s a month fromnext year, while it makes the delicate transition to the A330 neo. Earlier this year slowerorders for the older version of the wide body forced it to cut the rate from the current 10 amonth.

空客将从明年起每月生产6架A330，对它来说，中国订单对于完成这个目标至关重要。空客目前正在谨慎地转向新版A330客机，即A330 neo。今年早些时候，旧版A330订单的放缓曾迫使空客将月产量从目前的10架下调为6架。

Sash Tusa, analyst with Agency Partners estimates that the group needs roughly 80 A330orders to meet that lower rate. However, he warned that even with the Chinese deal, there wererisks that other existing orders could be amended.

Agency Partners分析师萨什•图萨(Sash Tusa)估计，空客需要大约80架A330的订单才能实现下调后的生产目标。但他警告称，即便与中国达成交易，其他既有订单也仍有可能面临修改。