Airbus, the European commercial airplane manufacturer, is working to improve and expand its relationship with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

A key exhibitor at the Aero India 2003 in Bangalore, Airbus 'is pleased with the quality of work, reliability and competitive performance of HAL," David Velupillai, the spokesperson for the company said.

Currently HAL is executing a $50 million order to supply doors for the A320 aircraft of Airbus.

The global leader's confidence in working with HAL arises from its experience with this order. Over half of the 600 doors to be made have already been delivered.

The only other global aircraft manufacturer in the 100-seater plus category than Boeing, Airbus will also use the air show, the biggest in South Asia, to highlight its ‘modern family of aircraft' to the Indian public and decision makers.

The key new offering from the company, which is a joint venture between EADS and BEA Systems of Britain, is the A380, the 550-seater super jumbo whose delivery will begin from 2006.

It has already received nearly 100 orders for it from airlines like Singapore Airlines and Qantas.

In India, airbus stands at the edge of winning a massive order from Indian Airlines whose board has already selected the A320 for its next round of fleet acquisition.

This decision is now awaiting government approval. It has also positioned itself for a share of Air-India's fleet expansion orders and offered its executive jet ACJ for Indian Air Force's VIP fleet which is currently made up of Boeing 737s.

India's geographical size and population density makes Airbus see it as a key growth area in the Asia Pacific region.

It expects India to acquire 222 aircraft in the two decades ending 2019.

It expects the two present flag carriers, Air-India and Indian Airlines, to retain 50 per cent market share.

As these two have substantial Airbus fleets, the company looks forward to getting a sizeable chunk of the new orders.

Airbus also sources software and designing work from Indian companies such as Computervision India, Vidyacom and Infosys, titanium parts from Mishra Dhatu Nigam and A320 nose undercarriage parts from HAL.

Globally, Airbus is buoyed by the fact that it has caught up with Boeing by currently delivering around half the aircraft and winning the same proportion of orders.