Airbus said to get order from China for A330, A320neo aircraft

Airbus SAS is set to win orders from China for about 60 airliners and the planemaker will announce progress on talks to build a new aircraft finishing center in the country, people familiar with the plan said.

The order will be announced later today as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information isn't public. The order is for single and twin-aisle aircraft and the finishing center will be for the A330 model, according to the people.

The announcement comes six months after China unveiled an order for 60 planes valued at $8 billion during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping with French President Francois Hollande. Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy said earlier that setting up a finishing center for A330 models in China was contingent on getting orders from the country, set to displace the U.S. as the world's biggest aircraft market in two decades.

Robin Tao, a Beijing-based spokesman for Airbus, declined to comment when contacted by telephone. Two calls made after office hours to the media relations office of Civil Aviation Authority of China weren't answered.

A finishing center equips flyable but unfinished aircraft with interior fittings.

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