China has been stalling the approval of Airbus deliveries to signal impatience with European regulators' delay in certifying Chinese-made COMAC aircraft, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has delayed the final approval that allows Airbus jets to enter the country and be put into service, for the past several months, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Airbus delivered its fewest commercial jets in the first quarter since 2009, with Chief Executive Guillaume Faury saying last month the delay was due to an "administrative topic" that held up almost 20 aircraft destined for China.
Faury said on Airbus's April 28 earnings call that the issue had since been resolved and that the undelivered planes would be shipped in the second quarter on top of regular deliveries during the quarter.
Chief Financial Officer Thomas Toepfer said on the same call that Airbus had built up around US$5.82 billion (HK$45.4 billion) of inventory in the quarter, significantly more than the prior year, with the China delivery halt the main driver. He said the aircraft "had been built and were ready, but could not be delivered" due to the administrative issue.
Reuters reported in January that Europe's aviation safety regulator EASA had been carrying out test flights to assess COMAC's C919 jet for certification, which would allow the Chinese planemaker to market the jet to Western airlines for the first time. As it stands, European and other Western carriers cannot fly COMAC's jets.
EASA safety certification would significantly expand COMAC's global footprint, as the C919 competes directly with Airbus's A320 and Boeing's 737 in the world's largest aircraft market segment.
Airbus, EASA, CAAC and Comac did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Reuters
