Li Guangyu and others wanted to establish Xiangjiang University of Science and Technology, but Zhong Yijie did not set any difficulties for them and approved it in just one week.
However, on the subway from the main urban area to Tseung Kwan O, due to the large scope of the matter, this aspect will take some time. Councilors from the two councils need to discuss it many times before they can make a final decision.
Seeing that 1986 was coming to an end, on the last day of December, Li Guangyu met in his office with Airbus Vice President Kendrick Jesse who came to Hong Kong.
At present, after nearly two years of test flights, the Airbus A330 has obtained aircraft suitability licenses for Western Europe and the Americas, and can be officially sold to foreign countries.
The current main customers of this aircraft are Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. If not for the huge demand from these two airlines, they would not be in a hurry to develop this aircraft.
Both Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways are headquartered here. As soon as Airbus received permission from various agencies, Kendi Jesse hurriedly came to Xiangjiang.
He knew very well what kind of aircraft the two major airlines would purchase and how much they would purchase. This was all Li Guangyu had the final say. So after he came to Xiangjiang, he hurriedly came to visit Wheelock Building without taking a rest.
Li Guangyu.
If I don't meet Li Guangyu today, I'm afraid I won't have the chance to meet him in the next few days. Tomorrow is the New Year, and then the Li Group will hold its annual summary meeting. Li Guangyu will definitely not have time to meet him.
After sitting down, Kendi Jesse said: "Mr. Li, thank you very much for taking the time to meet with me."
"Airbus is an important partner of our airline. We have maintained a very deep cooperative friendship over the years. I am very happy to see you again."
In the past two years, Xiangjiang Airlines has not added new orders due to the range problem of Airbus aircraft. It is controlling the increase of ultra-long-distance routes and is waiting for the launch of Airbus A330.
Li Guangyu currently has no plans to buy Boeing. Anyway, the U.S. market is restricting his industries. He might as well strengthen his ties with Airbus and let his industry develop better in Western Europe. You must know that Airbus is a joint venture between Britain, France, Germany, Italy and other countries.
Established by a joint venture.
After some polite remarks, Kendi Jesse said: "Mr. Li, currently our Airbus A330 has passed the inspections of many technical-related agencies and can be officially sold to the outside world. There are no safety issues. I also know that currently
Xiangjiang Airlines has a very tight fleet of aircraft, especially on long-haul flights. I wonder what your plan is?"
Li Guangyu is still very satisfied with the performance of this aircraft. The range of the Airbus A330 is not much lower than that of the Boeing 747. However, this aircraft has just come out and has not been tested by the market. It is not yet possible to judge the safety. He
It’s also impossible to order too much at once.
After observing its effect in future use and confirming that the Airbus A330 has no safety hazards, we will increase the purchase of this aircraft.
Li Guangyu said: "Mr. Jesse, I am very optimistic about this aircraft, but this is a new aircraft after all, and the performance and safety have yet to be tested by the market.
I plan to purchase six Airbus A330s from Xiangjiang Airlines within next year, and they will be stationed at six civil aviation bases under our airline and fly different routes. After ensuring that there are no problems with the aircraft, we will gradually increase the number from the year after next.
Purchase volume.”
Kendi Jesse was also mentally prepared for this. After all, the aircraft had just come out and had not yet been tested by the market in all aspects. It was impossible for Li Guangyu to bear such a big risk.
After all, this thing is flying in the sky. If there is any safety issue, all aircraft of the same type may be grounded. The impact is too huge.
Kendi Jesse said: "I know Mr. Li's concerns, and we can understand them. We at Airbus believe that there is absolutely no problem with the safety of this aircraft. This aircraft has been strictly tested by us. Currently, British Airways
Air Paris, Lufthansa, etc. will purchase this aircraft for long-distance flights."
Li Guangyu understood the underlying meaning of Kendi Jesse, but he had no intention of ordering in large quantities for the time being. He would fly for a year next year, and if there were no problems, he would start to increase the quantity in large quantities.
Xiangjiang Airlines will definitely have more than a thousand civilian passenger and cargo aircraft in the future. Li Guangyu still needs to be cautious when ordering. Once there is a problem with one aircraft, it may cause the company to ground hundreds of aircraft.
Li Guangyu smiled and said: "Mr. Kendi, you don't need to worry about the order. As long as your Airbus A330 has no safety and quality problems, our airline will be your biggest customer. If we hadn't waited for your A330 to be launched, we would
Airlines have already placed orders for 747s from Boeing."
Both parties are tacitly aware that Li Guangyu currently has a bad relationship with the American consortium, and Li Guangyu hopes to cooperate with them, Airbus, to stabilize the market in Western Europe.
Airbus was established to compete with American Boeing and Lockheed, especially Boeing. They also need to rely on Xiangjiang Airlines' large number of orders and Xiangjiang Airlines' influence in Asia to make Airbus and Boeing comparable.
As long as there are no quality issues with the Airbus A330, Kendi Jesse believes that Xiangjiang Airlines can get orders for hundreds of aircraft.
Currently, Xiangjiang Airlines is in relatively short supply of aircraft, especially for long-distance aircraft, whether it is the Vancouver maintenance and support base that has been completed or the maintenance and support bases in Sao Paulo and London that are under construction.
Kendi Jesse said: "I have great confidence in the Airbus A330. At the same time, our company is very happy to have in-depth cooperation with Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways. We will also give you the biggest discount in terms of price, compared with similar aircraft models."
It will definitely be lower than Boeing.”
Li Guangyu considered that after the establishment of maintenance and support bases in London and Sao Paulo, a number of medium-range routes will be opened. The longest range of the Airbus A310-300 is more than 6,000 kilometers, which is enough to meet the needs of Xiangjiang Airlines.
Therefore, he specially increased the order for this model to temporarily alleviate the current tense situation of Xiangjiang Airlines' aircraft.
As long as it is not a trans-Eurasian or trans-Pacific route, the Airbus A310-300 aircraft is sufficient to meet the needs of the route.
Li Guangyu said: "In order to maintain the friendship between us, Xiangjiang Airlines will order another 20 A310-300 aircraft. The specific price will be discussed by President Zhao Wenhua and you."
Kendi Jesse was very happy to hear Li Guangyu’s order. This time he came to Xiangjiang and added six A330s. He got an order for 26 aircraft for Airbus. In the current aviation market, it is already a very huge one.
Placed order.
Because of the rich wealth of the Lee Group, the order quantity is only so large each time, and it buys dozens of planes each time. Other airlines usually only order a few planes, and the delivery period is still several years.
If it weren't for Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific, Airbus would not have developed like this. At least the Airbus A310-300 and A330 would not have come out so early. At first, they mainly focused on the Western European market, where short and medium-range aircraft
It's enough to satisfy.
Because Xiangjiang Airlines operates international routes, many of which are transcontinental or transoceanic routes, which require long-range aircraft. In order not to lose this huge order, Airbus has advanced the development and manufacturing of long-range or even ultra-long-range aircraft for many years.