03 Nov 2020

China Aviation Industry Newsletter 3 November

Airbus delivers 500th A320 family aircraft assembled in China Airbus has delivered the 500th A320 family aircraft from its Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) in north China's Tianjin Municipality. The A320neo airplane was delivered to China Southern Airlines George Xu, CEO of Airbus China, said the aircraft's delivery marked a milestone in industrial cooperation and partnership between Airbus and China's aviation industry. China is the largest single-country market for Airbus, accounting for about one-fifth of its global deliveries. Calibration Flight Carried Out at Chengdu Tianfu International Airport A Cessna 560 aircraft completed calibration flight at the Chengdu Tianfu International Airport in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. The calibration testing will last for about 30 days. China's aviation industry expands with general aircraft totalling 2,913 China's general aviation industry has achieved major progress with increasing enterprises and aircraft over the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), according to the civil aviation authorities China has 509 general aviation enterprises and 2,913 general aircraft, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. China's Major Carriers Post Losses in First Three Quarters, but Signs of Recovery Emerge China's three major carriers still suffered losses in the first three quarters of the year, but signs of recovery emerged in the third quarter, according to the financial reports. Beijing-based Air China, Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines and Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines posted a loss of 10.1 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion), 9.1 billion yuan, and 7.5 billion yuan in the first three quarters, down 249.54 percent, 308.50 percent and 283.01 percent year on year, respectively. For the third quarter alone, China Southern Airlines is the only air company achieving a profit among the three major carriers, with a net profit of 711 million yuan, comparing with a loss of 671 million yuan for Air China and 563 million yuan for China Eastern Airlines. Air China and China Eastern Airlines are still at a loss, but the decline in net profit has significantly narrowed. From July to September, the total loss of the two airlines was 1.23 billion yuan, only accounting for 6.8 percent of the total loss in the first half of the year. COMAC delivers 23rd ARJ21 to Chengdu Airlines and 2nd one to Air China Chengdu Airlines has received the 23rd ARJ21 aircraft in Shanghai on October 29th, 2020, which indicates the delivery of the 37th ARJ21 aircraft to customers by Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, Ltd. (COMAC). The aircraft was introduced by means of financial leasing from AVIC International Leasing Co., Ltd. Fitch Assigns Final 'A+' to CDB Leasing's USD500 Million MTN Notes Fitch Ratings has assigned a final rating of 'A+' to China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd.'s (CDB Leasing, A+/Stable) USD500 million 1.5% notes due 2023 issued by CDBL Funding 1 under CDB Leasing's $3 billion medium-term note (MTN) programme. The notes are guaranteed by CDB Aviation Lease Finance Designated Activity Company (CDB Aviation, A+/Stable) with a keep well and asset-purchase deed undertaking provided by CDB Leasing. Acumen Aviation © 3 November 2020 All Rights Reserved.