Air China will buy a total of 40 Airbus planes in the next five years to meet demand on its expanding European routes, the company's director of board said on Nov. 28.

Speaking at the 4th Sino-European Industry and Commerce Summit, Li Jiaxiang, board director of Air China and GM of parent company China National Aviation Holding Co., said that Air China's direct route from Beijing to Athens would open for the first time on Nov. 28.

In addition, daily direct flights from Beijing to Berlin, Istanbul and Warsaw will be launched in March next year, while the flight routes from Beijing and Shanghai to Paris, Milan and Munich will be increased to two flights a day.

Air China is scheduled to open six new daily flights to European cities including Manchester, Dusseldorf and Vienna by 2009, said Li.

Air China's European flight routes had made profits for the first time this year, Li added.