Airbus-plane lease

CHINA Southern Airlines, the country’s largest airline by fleet size, said yesterday it had decided to lease a further six Airbus A330 planes instead of buying them.

The airline said that in order to improve its debt structure, it had decided to transfer its right to purchase the six planes to Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co. and then lease the planes from that company. The six planes are from an order of 10, which China Southern originally placed with Airbus in September 2005.

Tourism loss

THE country’s tourism industry suffered economic losses of at least 6.97 billion yuan (US$976 million) after snowstorms disrupted transport and power supplies across southern China, a government official said.

At least 300,000 tourists, including 60,000 from overseas, canceled travel plans because of severe winter weather, Shao Qiwei, head of the China National Tourism Administration, said yesterday.

Offshore oil

THE country’s production of crude oil off its coast would exceed 50 million metric tons by 2010 as companies speed up exploration, Xinhua quoted a State Oceanic Administration report as saying yesterday.