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Boeing sees no order cut from China: exec

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-10-16 09:13

SHANGHAI: Boeing Co. has received no cancellations of aircraft orders from Chinese airlines, a senior executive said on Thursday, although deliveries have been adjusted as carriers trim costs to cope with weak demand.

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Chinese airlines have pursued cost-cutting initiatives due to weak business in international air travel that has pushed the country's top three airlines into the red last year.

"We have no cancellations from Chinese airlines, only minor adjustments in deliveries," John Bruns, vice president for Boeing Commercial Airplanes, responsible for China operations , told reporters at a media forum.

Last month, an executive at the US plane manufacturer told Reuters that Chinese airlines were negotiating with the company to further delay taking delivery of 787 Dreamliner orders.

The Chinese government has handed out cash aid to its ailing airlines. The bleak market has been adding pressure on Chinese airlines to to scrap or delay aircraft orders after the country's air travel growth fell into single digits in 2008 for the first time in five years.

Boeing, the No.2 plane maker behind EADS unit Airbus, has also been struggling with a range of supply, manufacturing and design problems, made worse by a two-month strike at its Seattle-area plants last year.