Airbus, China reinforce aviation partnership

Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury shakes hands with Chinese National Development and Reform Commission President He Lifeng after the signing of an agreement at the Great Hall of People during French President Emmanuel Macron's official visit in Beijing on Nov. 6, 2019.

On Nov. 6, Airbus (Toulouse, France) and representatives of the Chinese government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) strengthening a long-standing partnership and committing to further deepening their cooperation in the aviation industry.

According to the MoU, both sides have agreed to take practical and effective measures for new initiatives regarding both Airbus single-aisle and widebody aircraft. As part of Airbus’ objective to reach a global A320 family production rate of 63 aircraft per month in 2021, the Airbus Tianjin A320 family Final Assembly Line (FAL Asia) remains on track to ramp up its production to six aircraft per month by the end of 2019, which is a 50% increase compared to its original design. A350 XWB capabilities will be extended into the Airbus Tianjin widebody Completion and Delivery Centre (C&DC) from the second half of 2020. The C&DC is scheduled to deliver its first A350 aircraft by 2021 from Tianjin.

The Memorandum of Understanding on Further Development of Industrial Cooperation was signed in Beijing, China by He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China, and Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO, in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron.

Source | Airbus

“We attach great importance to our long-term strategic partnership with China and its aviation industry,” says Guillaume Faury, Airbus CEO. “Airbus is committed to serving this growth sector with the diverse portfolio it has to offer, and we are committed to working with our Chinese partners to shape the future of the industry.”

According to Airbus, the potential of China’s aviation market is huge: while China domestic is set to become the world’s largest market, international traffic to and from China has nearly doubled over the last 10 years. According to the Airbus Global Market Forecast, China is expected to require some 7,560 new aircraft over the next 20 years.

In both Airbus’ single-aisle and widebody aircraft programs, cooperation with China is well-established. FAL Asia has been successfully operating single-aisle Airbus aircraft since its inauguration in Sept. 2008 — to date, 450 A320 family aircraft have been delivered from Tianjin to Airbus’ Chinese and Asian customers.

The C&DC, inaugurated in Sept. 2017, is the first Airbus widebody aircraft center outside of Europe. The center, according to Airbus, has successfully performed A330 aircraft completion activities including cabin installation, aircraft painting and production flight test, as well as customer acceptance and aircraft delivery. The A350 XWB has garnered 913 orders from 51 customers worldwide, Airbus says.