Looking to expand into Europe, Hong King Airlines has ordered 10 Airbus A380 aircraft worth approximately $3.8bn, or £2.5bn, at list prices.

The Financial Times and the BBC both reported that the deal was at risk of being derailed by a dispute between the European Union and China.

However, the airline’s head of corporate governance, Kenneth Thong, told a television interview with Bloomberg that the order would go ahead.

This was despite the Chinese government’s opposition to an EU plan that international airlines comply with a scheme to tackle carbon emissions.

Hong Kong Airlines (HKA), born in 2011 as CR Airways, is likely to have got a large discount on the order for the A380, Airbus’s flagship super-jumbo. The airline is small by Asian airline standards with fewer than 20 planes, but is thought to have 100 aircraft on order.

It is currently providing passenger and cargo services with neighbouring countries and Mr Thong said that the aircraft were needed to boost HKA’s growth, particularly business class services with Europe.

Mr Thong told Bloomberg television in Hong Kong: “We think the business connection between Asia and Europe is going to be very exciting for the next couple of years, after the current (economic) crisis is over. We are planning for the aftermath.”

While rival Boeing posted its 2011 sales report last week, Airbus is expected to acknowledge the HKA contract formally with its 2011 annual report on January 17.

With big order backlogs, the world’s two largest aircraft makers are looking for ways to streamline production and, in Boeing’s case, to source parts from more suppliers to increase throughput.

Source: The Manufacturer

Picture: Ndecam

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