Airbus A320s sport 'created and made in China' wings

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2015-04-12

An A320 being assembled in Tianjin, December 2014. (File photo/Xinhua)

The Airbus and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and the Xi'an Aircraft Industry Factory have achieved domestic production of Airbus aircraft wings for the A320 series at their jointly operated Tianjin factory, reports the Shanghai-based China Business News.

The Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre, run by Airbus and its Chinese partners, is also fully functional and producing key parts needed for Airbus A350XWB aircraft.

So far, Airbus Tianjin has assembled a total of 216 A320s, most of which are for the mainland China market. Airbus Tianjin plans to assemble 49 aircraft in 2015, said one unnamed Airbus executive.

Airbus began cooperating with Xi'an Aircraft as early as 1999, with the latter as a contract manufacturer for aircraft wings. Now collaboration has extended to include the assembly, testing and delivery of whole wings, said the report.

The A320 wing project is one of the most advanced technologies Airbus has brought to work with the Chinese aviation industry, as the design and construction of a wing is the most technical section of the aircraft. Success in commercial airplane wing manufacturing has significantly boosted the overall capability of China's aviation industry.

The cooperation entered the fourth stage in 2009, with Xi'an Aircraft delivering the first whole A320 aircraft wing to Airbus in February 2010.

Airbus Tianjin, which is a joint venture between Airbus, AVIC and a Chinese consortium in the Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ), has been praised as a model for cooperation between China and Europe.

In June 2009, Airbus Tianjin delivered its first assembled A320 aircraft to Sichuan Airlines. Since then, Airbus Tianjin delivered 11 aircraft in 2009, 26 in 2010, 36 in 2011, 37 in 2012, 46 in 2013 and 47 in 2014 to more than 10 local and foreign airline companies.

In April 2014, Airbus and its Chinese partners signed an agreement to push for further cooperation in the assembly of the A320 Neo series, and raise total assembly capacity. The Airbus A350XWB project will show not only "made in China," but also progress towards "created in China," said the Airbus executive.

Airbus forecasts that for China to become the world's largest civil aviation market within the next 10 years, it will need more than 5,300 newly added passenger and cargo aircraft, accounting for 17% of the world's total.