First aircraft sections arrive at A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin

The first aircraft sections for the new Airbus single-aisle assembly line in Tianjin arrived at the A320 Final Assembly Line (FAL) site in the early morning of 25th July.

Six jigs loaded with parts for an A320, coming from the Airbus production sites in Europe, departed from Hamburg on a container ship on 24th June. It carries the forward and rear fuselage section, a pair of wings, the horizontal and vertical tailplane and engine pylons. The sections arrived at the Tianjin Harbour at 06:30am on 24th July, then were transported from the harbour to the FALC site by road at 3:00 o’clock in the morning of 25th July.

The assembly process of the first aircraft, which is for Sichuan Airlines, will start in August 2008. Delivery of the aircraft is scheduled for mid 2009. By 2011, the production ramp-up will reach 4 aircraft per month.

"The arrival of these aircraft sub-assemblies marks another important step forward for our assembly line in Tianjin", said Laurence Barron, the President of Airbus China. "With China's economic booming and the rapid development of the Chinese aviation industry, Airbus looks at China not only as one of the most important markets but as a strategic partner. Airbus will closely work with the Chinese aviation enterprises and continue to deepen and expand our cooperation", he added.

"Airbus A320 FAL project is a great example of China-European cooperation and an impetus for the development of Binhai New Area. We attach great importance to it and will do our outmost to ensure its success together with Airbus", said Gou Lijun, Member of CPC Tianjin Municipal Standing Committee and Director of the Administrative Committee of Binhai New Area.

Airbus is an EADS company.

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