At 9 o'clock in the morning London time, Li Guangyu received Zhao Wenhua's discussion on the China Airlines incident.

Li Guangyu said to Zhao Wenhua on the phone: "You don't get too involved in this aspect, let them solve the rest of the matter, your most important thing now is to strengthen the construction of the group's reserve talents, as well as the construction of the group's infrastructure support facilities, the current Airbus new generation of A330 after a number of long-term test flights, is expected to be able to go on sale early next year, the group should be ready for this aspect." ”

The main customers of this aircraft are Heung Kong Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways, and if it were not for the rapid expansion of the Lee consortium, they would not have started the development of long-range aircraft in advance.

In Airbus's original plan, it was to occupy the short- and medium-range aviation market first, and then develop long-range and ultra-long-range civil airliners, after all, Europe is still mainly based on short-haul routes.

However, the rapid development of Xiangjiang Airlines has forced them to enter the development of long-range and even ultra-long-range aircraft in advance, and for this plan, Airbus has invested more than two billion US dollars in the development of Airbus A330 and A340 models to compete with the Boeing 747 series aircraft.

After years of development and test flights, the A330 has been able to meet the standards for market sales, and they can be sold to the outside world as long as the A330 is approved by various places to become an aircraft-friendly type.

At present, Xiangjiang Airlines and Cathay Pacific Airways are relatively lacking in long-range and ultra-long-haul aircraft, and those planes of Airbus before are mainly medium-haul, even if the range of later aircraft reaches more than 7,000 kilometers, it still cannot meet the needs of the two major airlines.

Many of the two major airlines have to cross the Pacific Ocean, and even some routes will cross the Eurasian continent, and the flight range is very long, and medium and long-haul aircraft simply cannot meet the needs of these routes.

At present, these routes are carried out by Boeing 747 aircraft, and with the continuous increase of routes, the original Boeing 747 of the two major airlines is simply not enough.

In addition, the relationship between the Lee consortium and the American consortium has not been harmonious in the past two years, so the two major airlines have not purchased Boeing passenger aircraft in recent years.

Zhao Wenhua is the happiest about the expansion of the group, he used to be only the deputy general manager of Cathay Pacific Airways, and Cathay Pacific only had about 20 planes at that time, and it was already a very good airline in Asia in the seventies.

In addition to those giants, airlines from many countries and regions in Southeast Asia have more than a dozen aircraft.

Since coming to Heung Kong Airlines, the number of its aircraft is getting bigger and bigger, there are currently 150 passenger planes, and there are 30 freighters.

He said to Li Guangyu: "Li Sheng, I know how to do it, and we are also stepping up the expansion of our maintenance and support bases, and I believe that in next year, the maintenance and support capacity of the major bases will be doubled." ”

After Li Guangyu hung up Zhao Wenhua's phone, he began to think about the layout of the airline.

At present, the layout in Asia is almost complete, and it is estimated that there is no opportunity on the mainland side, and that side will be the world of Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines in the future, and it is very difficult for him to establish a maintenance and support base there and open flights between the mainland.

It's a pity that the relationship with the American consortium is not very good now, and it is not easy for him to go to the American market to grab food.

It is relatively easy for the British side, and it should be relatively easy for him to establish such a civil aviation maintenance and support base.

Li Guangyu said to Gan Qin: "You go and contact the person in charge of Heathrow International Airport and discuss with him about the airport becoming the hub air airport of our Xiangjiang Airlines, and build it according to our scale in Taoyuan." ”

Gan Qin knew that Li Guangyu was preparing for the airline to expand in Western Europe, Heathrow Airport is the busiest airport in Europe, and Heung Kong Airlines is using it as a hub airport, and the development prospects are worth looking forward to.

She responded: "Li Sheng, I will contact the general manager of the airport management company later, but the company's senior management can't do this thing, I suggest that Zhang Ziyu communicate with Thatcher at the same time, and we can achieve the goal as soon as possible." ”

At present, the management of Heathrow Airport still belongs to the government, and if Xiangjiang Airlines wants to enter, it mainly needs the government's consent.

……

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Ziyu came to Thatcher's office, where she had been here dozens of times and was already very familiar with it.

Next year is the time for the general election in the United Kingdom, which is why Thatcher is resolutely pursuing privatization reforms.

The development of the Lee Consortium in the UK for so many years has already been very close to the Conservative Party, and next year, the Lee Consortium will also contribute to this to ensure that the Conservative Party can continue to be re-elected, so that the development of the Lee Consortium in the UK will be more rapid.

Thatcher and Zhang Ziyu were also very familiar with each other, and after Zhang Ziyu sat down, she said with a smile: "Miss Zhang, do you need our government's help when you came here today?"

"Madam, we came to meet you this time, we hope that Heathrow Airport will become the hub airport of Hejiang Airlines, so as to better serve the citizens of London and even the United Kingdom. ”

The relationship between the two is already quite familiar, and Zhang Ziyu did not have too much politeness with Thatcher, and directly explained his intentions.

Even the airlines are ready to be privatized, and Thatcher will naturally not refuse Xiangjiang Airlines' desire to use Heathrow Airport as a hub airport.

However, she is now selling British European Airlines, and no strong force has yet taken over, and she wants to see if the Lee consortium is willing to eat the company.

She said: "Miss Zhang, I personally approve and welcome your Xiangjiang Airlines' hope that Greekroy Airport will become one of your main airports, but there are many things involved, and I am afraid that I will not be able to decide for a while. ”

"Ma'am, I wonder if you have any good advice?"

Zhang Ziyu knew that Thatcher probably wanted the Li consortium to take over again, but in fact, without Thatcher to say, she knew that Thatcher probably wanted the Li consortium to buy British airlines.

The facts did not surprise Zhang Ziyu, and Thatcher suggested that the Lee consortium buy British European Airlines.

Zhang Ziyu said: "Madam, I also know that this airline is the top three airports in the United Kingdom, but at present, we have limited financial resources and really do not have the ability to acquire this company, I believe that as long as Madame is willing, it is very easy for Heathrow Airlines to establish a logistics and maintenance base at Heathrow Airport." ”

Now the Li consortium has no intention of taking over British European Airlines, and accepting that company is a waste of money except for the route is a little useful, and those planes are some old models, which are not suitable for the planning of Hong Kong Airlines.

Thatcher was not discouraged when she saw Zhang Ziyu's refusal, so she just asked.

She said: "Miss Zhang, I will communicate with government officials and airport officials about what you said before I can give you an answer." You can also convey my opinion to Mr. Li and see what Mr. Li's opinion is. ”

……

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