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- State aircraft maker may bid for Airbus plants
Date: 21-Jun-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
STATE-OWNED Chinese aircraft maker AVIC I may bid for some of Airbus's factories in Europe, State media said yesterday, citing a senior Chinese executive.
Airbus plans to sell six of its 16 factories in full or in part as part of a restructuring plan to trim costs and help compensate for a weak dollar.
The Securities Times cited AVIC I general manager Lin Zuoming as saying at the Paris air show that his company was interested in bidding for the facilities. AVIC I could not immediately be reached for comment.
Airbus said in May that it was seeking partners to co-run Meaulte in France, a nose and cockpit subassembly plant, Nordenham in Germany, which makes fuselage shells, and wing factory Filton in Britain.
Facilities for sale include one at St. Nazaire in France that makes fuselage sections and two plants in Varel and Laupheim in Germany that make tools and cabins.
If a deal with AVIC I were to go ahead, it would mark China's latest acquisition move overseas and help to boost the country's technological know-how in the aviation industry.
Earlier this year, the Chinese Cabinet approved a plan to develop large passenger and cargo jets to wean the country from its reliance on Airbus and Boeing .
AVIC I and its State-owned rival AVIC II - which both make components for Airbus and Boeing - will be involved in the project, sources familiar with the situation told reporters in March.
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