China Southern inks $1.9bn Airbus deal

China Southern Airlines (ZNH.NYSE, 600029.SH, 1055.HK) has agreed to purchase 10 aircraft from European aircraft manufacturer Airbus for approximately US$1.9 billion, Reuters reported. China Southern, the nation’s biggest carrier by number of aircraft, will finance the purchase of the A330-300 planes internally and with debt from commercial banks, the carrier said in a statement. The aircraft will be delivered over a two-year period from 2014 to 2016. China Southern also disclosed that the retail price of one Airbus A300-300 plane is US$188 million, although carriers usually pay a lower negotiated price. The purchase is the second involving a Chinese carrier and Airbus after the EU issued a moratorium on November 12 on plans to make non-EU airliners adhere to its Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) .