Airbus Group is poised to win a Chinese order of at least 150 jetliners worth $20 billion, people with knowledge of the deal said. The buy is expected to be announced on March 26 when a Chinese state delegation visits Europe. The agreement includes long-haul A330s and A350s and a large number of single-aisle A320neos, sources said. China will supplant the U.S. as Airbus's biggest single market within 20 years. Airbus and China are also in talks to open a second plant in China. The "cabin completion" plant for A330s would bolster the Airbus presence five years after the opening of its first final assembly plant outside Europe in the port city of Tianjin, where Chinese workers put together A320 jets. (Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, 03/19/14) Gulf Coast note: Airbus is building an A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala., that will open in 2015.
NEWS: A digest of aerospace, defense and technology news from the Gulf Coast I-10 region
