China Eastern Airlines is expected to sign a contract Friday with Airbus for the purchase of 20 A330 aircraft for more than US$2 billion.

The Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard will meet Friday in Toulouse with Chinese Vice-Prime Minister Zeng Peiyan to finalize the deal.

China Eastern, which owns 60 Airbus aircraft out of a total fleet of 97, said the new aircraft are destined to replace a number of old ones.

As one of China's top three airlines, China Eastern is the European aircraft manufacturer's top customer in China and in Asia.

Airbus, a unit of European Air Defense and Space Company, manufactures its aircraft in the southern French city of Toulouse.

(CRI.com June 11, 2004)