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Airbus Tianjin Final Assembly Line on stream The first locally assembled A320 was delivered in 2009
http://www.tj-summerdavos.cn 2014-09-08 19:49

The high-profiled Airbus Tianjin A320 Final Assembly Line (FAL) witnessed a milestone arriving on June 23, 2009, as the first locally assembled A320 jetliner was delivered to Dragon Aviation Leasing for operation by Sichuan Airlines. The delivery was made after the aircraft had undergone a test flight on May 18. Airbus aims to deliver 11 A320s in 2009 from its factory at Tianjin. And the plane maker will raise the production capacity to four aircraft per month by the end of 2011 at its Tianjin FAL, with yearly output reaching 48.

Airbus Tianjin A320 FAL project was approved by State Council of China to set up in Tianjin Binhai New Area in May 2006, as a landmark program of successful Sino-European industrial cooperation. The project consists of four parts, including aircraft general assembly, spray painting, adjustment process and test flight. It occupies an area as large as 600,000 square meters, involving 7 sub-projects — the general assembly factory, the spray painting workshop, the power station, the aircraft storehouse, assembly equipment, outdoor facility and infrastructure in 19 separated buildings and structures.

Since the end of 2005, Airbus has jointly conducted field surveys with the National Development and Reform Commission in Tianjin, Shanghai, Xi’an and Zhuhai for FAL site selection. Finally, Airbus picked up Tianjin Binhai New Area as the site for the FAL. On October 26, 2006, top leaders from France and China witnessed a cooperative framework agreement inked between the two sides in Beijing. Tianjin Airbus A320 General Assembly Line is the first one of its kind to locate outside the European continent.

The reason why Tianjin could win out the competition is that it boasts of unique geographical advantage. The Binhai New Area is located right in the heart of the Bohai Bay Area, connecting North, Northeast and Northwest China. At the beginning of China’s “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” (2006-2010), the State brought forward the notion of “promoting the development of the Binhai New Area”, indicating the importance of raising international competence of Beijing, Tianjin Municipalities and Hebei Province, and bridging the development gap of the country’s South and North regions. The southern part of China is now wealthier than the northern one.

One of the orientations of the Binhai New Area is to become a transformation and industrialization hub for R&D achievements. The establishment of Airbus A320 FAL here is one endorsement of this orientation. Tianjin became the fourth city in the world to own a trunk-line aircraft assembly line after Seattle (US), Toulouse (France) and Hamburg (Germany). At the delivery ceremony, Airbus CEO Thomas Enders pointed out that the standard of aircrafts assembled and delivered in China is exactly the same as that of Europe. “There is no difference at all”, compared with aircrafts manufactured in other countries.

By the end of 2015, the quantity of aircrafts assembled by Airbus in China will have reached about 247, all of which will be delivered domestically. Aircrafts made after 2015 may be sold to adjacent markets outside China.

Airbus, a leading civil aircraft manufacturer in the world, was established in Toulouse, France in 1970.

Source:Enorth.com.cn

Editor: Zhang Jialu
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