TIANJIN, May 1 (Xinhua) -- Airbus has won another major order from China, extending a months-long run of large aircraft deals in its biggest single-country market and highlighting Chinese carriers' long-term confidence in air travel demand.

China Southern Airlines said in a Wednesday announcement that it and its holding subsidiary Xiamen Airlines will purchase 137 A320neo family aircraft from Airbus. The combined catalog price is 21.4 billion U.S. dollars.

The deal is the latest in a series of large Airbus orders placed by Chinese airlines. On Dec. 30, 2025, Air China, Spring Airlines and Juneyao Air announced purchases of 60 and 30 A320neo family aircraft, and 25 A320-family aircraft, respectively. On March 25 this year, China Eastern Airlines signed an agreement with Airbus to buy 101 A320neo family aircraft.

Collectively, the recently announced agreements comprise more than 350 Airbus single-aisle aircraft, with a combined catalog value of nearly 55 billion dollars. The aircraft are scheduled for delivery in batches between 2028 and 2032.

For Chinese carriers, the orders point to a strategic push to prepare capacity well ahead of expected demand. China Eastern Airlines said its purchase was based on confidence in the future development of China's civil aviation industry, adding that the latest-generation narrow-body aircraft would help replenish capacity, optimize its fleet structure, reduce fuel consumption and unit costs, improve route networks, and enhance the passenger experience.

The company said the aircraft would support its strategy of "flying further, flying global and flying towards emerging markets," while helping advance its carbon-reduction goals.

For Airbus, the wave of orders underscores China's role not only as a major sales market, but also as an increasingly important part of its global production and delivery network. China, the world's second-largest economy and the country with the largest air-travel population, has become Airbus's largest single-country market for civil aircraft. Airbus said its fleet share in China has risen from about 20 percent in 2008 to more than 50 percent today.

The A320 family, one of the world's most popular single-aisle aircraft lines, has received more than 19,000 orders from over 300 customers worldwide.

George Xu, executive vice president of Airbus and CEO of Airbus China, said the company remains confident in China's fast-growing aviation market, resilient and stable supply chain, and sound business environment.

"China's commitment to high-standard opening up provides a more stable and resilient environment for Airbus development," Xu added.

The latest order flow is also set to support Airbus's production footprint in Tianjin. Continuous orders are expected to help ensure smooth operation of the A320-family final assembly lines located in the northern Chinese port city.

Chinese airlines operate more than 2,000 Airbus A320-family aircraft, around one-third of which were delivered from Airbus's first A320-family final assembly line in Asia, located in Tianjin.

Launched in 2008, the Tianjin line was Airbus's first civil aircraft production line outside Europe. It has delivered more than 800 A320-family aircraft.

Last October, Airbus's second A320-family final assembly line in Asia, also located in Tianjin, officially began operation. Assembly of the first aircraft on the new line is now under way. With that, Airbus now has 10 A320-family final assembly lines worldwide.

"We will be better able to continue delivering aircraft to customers worldwide and will have stronger production flexibility," said Christoph Schrempp, general manager of the Airbus Tianjin Delivery Center.

The expanded industrial layout comes as China's civil aviation market continues to grow. Data from the Civil Aviation Administration of China showed that the country has added about 40 million air travelers annually over the past two years, bringing its total air-travel population to 470 million, up 160 million from 2019. China now has the world's largest air-travel population.

China's civil aviation airports handled nearly 1.53 billion passenger trips in 2025, up 4.8 percent year on year, according to the 2025 civil aviation industry statistical bulletin released by the administration.

Airbus forecasts that China's passenger traffic will grow at an average annual rate of 5.3 percent over the next 20 years, compared with 3.6 percent globally. By 2042, the world will need more than 40,000 new aircraft, of which more than 9,000 will be delivered to China, according to the company.

"China's aviation market holds immense potential, and our strengthened industrial footprint here underscores our strong commitment to this market," said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, adding that Airbus is dedicated to continuing its partnership with China. ■