* Sees some time before Chinese airlines warm to A380
* Sees strong passenger traffic growth in China 2011 (Adds details, quotes)
SHANGHAI, April 7 (Reuters) - Chinese airlines will need some time before they start to warm to the Airbus A380 super jumbo, Airbus's China head said on Thursday.
"Chinese airlines historically have not been very enthusiastic about buying a product early in the programme," Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China, told an aviation conference on Thursday.
"It will take some time for the Chinese airlines to really understand what a great aircraft it is," he said of the A380.
Barron said he saw an impact on airlines from the introduction of high-speed railway lines in China, especially on the Beijing to Shanghai route. A high-speed train linking the two major Chinese cities is set to start operating in June.
This might put pressure on airlines to expand their international routes, boding well for A380 sales.
So far, China Southern Airlines Co Ltd , the country's largest carrier by fleet size, is the only Chinese airline to have ordered the A380.
China Southern has ordered five A380s and said last month that it expected to take delivery of the first in August. [ID:nH9E7EG01Z]
"We continue to see strong traffic growth in China driven very largely by domestic travel, while international traffic is also growing very steadily as well," Barron told reporters in an interview.
China is expected to buy more than 2,000 aircraft over the next five year. Boeing , which has about half of the China market, said last month it sealed deals worth $10 billion with two airlines in China. (Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)