European aircraft manufacturer Airbus SE and China are further strengthening their partnership in the aviation industry, and by 2020, Airbus will produce its latest wide-body A350 aircraft from its completion and delivery center in Tianjin, according to an MoU signed on Wednesday.
The MoU on further development of industrial cooperation was signed in Beijing by He Lifeng, chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron.
From the second half of 2020, the Tianjin A330 wide-body completion and delivery center will start to shift its work - including cabin installation and aircraft painting - to the A350, and deliver the first A350 aircraft by 2021 from Tianjin, setting the record for the company's first wide-body completion and delivery center outside Europe.
The Tianjin A320 final assembly line is the third-largest single-aisle assembly line for Airbus after Toulouse in France and Hamburg in Germany, and will increase its production rate to six aircraft per month by the end of the year, a 50 percent increase compared to its original design, according to the MoU.
The intensified business plan will contribute to Airbus' objective to reach a global A320 aircraft production rate of 63 aircraft per month in 2021, Airbus said.
"We attach great importance to our long-term strategic partnership with China and its aviation industry. 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," said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.
The potential in China's aviation market is huge, and international traffic to and from China has nearly doubled over the past 10 years. Airbus has forecast that China is expected to require some 7,560 new aircraft over the next 20 years.
