Airbus Delivers First A320 Assembled in China

By: Gregory Polek

June 23, 2009
Aerospace Industry, Air Transport and Cargo

Airbus today delivered the first A320 aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line China (FALC) in Tianjin. Airbus president and CEO Tom Enders handed over the airplane to Dragon Aviation Leasing chairman Li Hai during a ceremony in Tianjin to mark the event. Dragon has signed a contract to lease the aircraft to Chengdu-based Sichuan Airlines.

Tianjin party secretary Zhang Gaoli, Tianjin mayor Huang Xingguo, German state secretary for economics and technology Hartmut Schauerte and Sichuan Airlines president Lan Xinguo also participated in the ceremony, which was attended by more than 1,000 guests.

The Export-Import Bank of China, a strategic long-term partner to Dragon Aviation Leasing, financed the purchase of the aircraft. The Sichuan A320 features a two-class cabin configuration, with eight first-class seats and 156 economy seats. The airline plans to deploy the single-aisle narrowbody on domestic trunk routes from its Chengdu base to major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. Schedules call for the first FALC-built aircraft to enter service tomorrow, June 24, on the route from Chengdu to Beijing. The aircraft will join the existing fleet composed of 40 Airbus single-aisle aircraft.

Airbus and a Chinese consortium consisting of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) officially opened the FALC plant last September. Plans call for the delivery of 11 FALC-built A319s/320s this year and for production to build to four aircraft a month by 2011.

Back

Dassault Results Reveal NetJets Delays, Cancellations November 19, 2009 Disclosing its financial results for the first three quarters of the year, Dassault on November 12 indicated that the backlog for Falcon... [more]
Yemenia opts for A320s to plug its A350 gap November 17, 2009 Airbus and Yemenia Airlines yesterday morning signed a memorandum of understanding covering 10 Airbus A320s, the first of which the official... [more]
Etihad kicks off next phase of strategic investments November 17, 2009 Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways plans to spend $750 million on its workforce, fleet, in-flight service and planning and resourcing systems to support... [more]
DAE selects CFM engines for its A320s November 17, 2009 Dubai Aerospace Enterprise (DAE) has selected CFM International CFM56-5B engines to power 20 Airbus A320 family aircraft it has on order, in a... [more]
News Clips from Dubai 2009 November 17, 2009 Jet Aviation Joins JSSI’s Network of Mx ProvidersJet Aviation of Basel, Switzerland, has signed a service agreement with Jet Support Services,... [more]