Airbus has revealed China Eastern Airlines as the customer for five A340-600s ordered last year. The aircraft had been listed for more than a year as ordered by an unidentified customer.
Airbus has not sold any A340s this year and the China Eastern deal will not affect 2001 order numbers, as the purchase agreement was signed last year.
China Eastern originally planned to acquire Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered A340-500s and -600s from Airbus and International Lease Finance (ILFC). It scrapped a tentative deal with ILFC for four aircraft late in 1999,however, after the Chinese Government introduced a new withholding tax on operating lease payments.
The carrier later expanded a tentative deal with Airbus to cover five aircraft but airline sources said it still hoped to secure an agreement with ILFC because it had 2002 delivery positions.
Source: Flight International
