To buy or not to buy ... the Airbus question

Luo Yueping, board secretary of China Eastern Airlines, said the company's commercial needs will determine whether it will continue to purchase Airbus jets.

"That depends. The decisions are business-oriented," Luo said in an interview with China National Radio.

Asked whether the company will freeze or cancel current orders for Airbus jets following reports that China had blocked purchases in response to the European carbon tax, Luo responded: "We did not say that we will break the contract, nor did we say we will not carry out the orders."

Liu Shaoyong, chairman of China Eastern, said the Chinese government had asked the company to refrain from making contact with European officials involved in the taxation plan.