Officials with Air China said the new Airbus airliner, which is specially designed for mid-and long-range flights, will be applied for Air China's routes starting from the altiplano-located Lhasa airport and some long-distance routes between Beijing and Shenzhen.

The Airbus A330 aircraft will make its maiden flight from Chengdu to Lhasa on June 11, which will become a major aircraft in service on the Lhasa-Beijing air route in the future, said sources with the Air China.

Airbus President and CEO Gustav Humbert said with a maximum voyage of 12,500 kilometers, the Airbus A330 is a double-engine aircraft with the longest-range of flights.

Humbert said the first Airbus A330 aircraft was put into commercial service in the world in 1998, and the price for one Airbus A330 is about US$158 million.

Currently, there are five Airbus A330 in service in China Eastern Airlines, four in China Southern Airlines. Air China once rented one Airbus A330 from a Hong Kong Air company.

Air China signed contact with Airbus for the purchase of 20 Airbus A330-200s in July last year, scheduled for delivery from May this year.

Sources said another two Airbus A330s will join the Air China fleet at the end of this month, with one Airbus A319 also to be delivered to Air China within this month.

Airbus business in China has been steadily expanding since it first entered the country in 1985. Airbus has just decided to launch its first overseas A320 assembly line outside Europe in North China's Tianjin city, a remarkable step for the giant aircraft manufacturer to expand market in the booming Chinese market.