"By delaying delivery or canceling, Chinese airline companies would have a better supply and demand situation in the aviation industry," Yao said.

Actually, China's airline firms are well placed to cope with costly orders. Mao Ang, an analyst with China Galaxy Securities, said only one in ten airplanes would be fully paid-for orders. Most of them would be quasi-purchased from international syndicates.

"This is the international convention. Similar to mortgage holders, the airline companies pay for the planes in installments from the syndicates, until they get full equity of the planes," said Mao.

As a result, the companies may not feel the pinch as much as outsiders think, Mao said.

(China Daily March 11, 2009)