The rivalry between Boeing and Airbus has played out in China for years and it shows no signs of letting up. Boeing has approximately 60 percent of the market share in China, but on a recent visit to France, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said his country would purchase 150 Airbus A320s.

The deal-valued at over $9 billion-gives the European consortium the upper hand at the moment. Under the agreement, Airbus may also construct a plant for manufacturing a single-aisle aircraft in China, which would constitute the company's first assembly line outside of Europe.

In the meantime, there's plenty of airfreight business to go around. For instance, China's three biggest carriers-Air China, China Southern, and China Eastern-all have fleets under 200 planes. By comparison, the average U.S. carrier has a fleet three or four times that size.

Indeed, China's lack of capacity is no secret. According to one industry expert, “Planes are always full, and they always take off late.”