China to Order Up to 120 Airbus Jets in Major Potential Expansion

China is considering an order for up to 120 Airbus aircraft, according to comments made during a state visit to Beijing involving German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressing this decision after a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang. The suggested deal, as reported by Euronews, highlights Beijing's desire to modernise and increase the country's civil aviation capacity, as air travel needs rise and fleet renewal policies take effect. The type of aircraft to be delivered, delivery time, and the value of the entire transaction were not announced at the time, but the prospective transaction is viewed as a major prestige and market creation for Airbus in the context of geopolitical rivalry.

Background and Rationalization

Although the specifics of the up-to-120 aircraft order are yet to be signed, the announcement is based on a group of Airbus orders by Chinese airlines late in 2025. These include firm orders of A320neo family jets by Air China, Spring Airlines, Juneyao Airlines, and others, of more than 100 narrowbody aircraft to be delivered not later than 2032. The governance sector in China usually buys planes in large numbers and then divides them between state- and privately-owned carriers, and previous transactions were similar to the high demand growth and modernisation of the fleet. The Airbus fleet of China already covers the whole gamut of the A320-series narrowbodies and A350 widebodies that are already operating in over 30 airlines in the country, and the Tianjin A320neo final assembly line has placed Airbus at the production level in China. As per the reports of CH Aviation, the 120 aircraft order is also possible with a backdrop of the overall aviation market growth in China. Airbus has projected that it will require over 9,500 additional passenger and cargo jets in the next 2 decades, which is greater than 20 percent of the worldwide demand, owing to increasing per-capita travel as well as rising domestic and global flights.

Industrial and Market Dynamics

The potential Airbus victory over China is a strategic move because the European company has always had a strong presence in the Chinese civil aviation market in relation to its American competitor, Boeing. The final assembly line in Tianjin (assembling A320-family aircraft to serve Asian-Pacific clients) supports Airbus corporate supply-footprint in China and can be used to address the issue of logistical complexity in large-quantity orders. Nevertheless, the Chinese domestic aircraft manufacturer COMAC is still working on its C919 and widebody C929 programmes. However, they are yet to be fully certified to operate in many international destinations, leaving traditional manufacturers such as Airbus as the main stakeholder in the large civil aircraft requirement. The prospective order may, thus, be viewed as not only a capacity expansion of the Chinese airlines but also a confirmation of the role of Airbus in the face of competitive and geopolitical pressures in one of the most significant aviation markets globally.

Proposed Order Snapshot

Industry Specialist Perspective

Senior Aviation analyst Helane Becker of TD Cowen (Cowen and Co) observed that “Not only do such purchases indicate the underlying growth in travel demand, but also in the supply chain and geopolitical positioning between the leading OEMs. These orders can affect production planning and slot allocation during deliveries and competition between Airbus and Boeing throughout the world.”

Strengthening Airbus’s Footprint in China

The words of the German Chancellor Merz are an indication that Beijing is planning more civil aviation capacity relations with Airbus, a reference to economic planning as well as industrial relations. Such a promise, once completed, might have a long-term traceable effect on the world aircraft manufacturing and supply chain and competitiveness within the global aerospace market, considering that China is expected to need the new aircraft in thousands over the next few decades.

Snapshot Overview