- To open second assembly line in Tianjin
BEIJING (Agencies): Airbus announced on Thursday it signed a 160 commercial aircraft purchase agreement with a Chinese partner, and it will open a second assembly line in Tianjin, further expanding its presence in one of the largest aviation markets in the world.
The package deal is made as French President Emmanuel Macron made a state visit to China. Macron’s visit is the first time a European leader visited China after China fully reopened exchanges with other countries.
The deal was done with the China Aviation Supplies Holding Co, for 150 A320 Family aircraft and 10 A350-900 widebody aircraft, reflecting the strong demand in all market segments from Chinese carriers.
In addition, Airbus will build a second assembly line at its Tianjin site to double its output. The agreement will contribute to Airbus’ overall rate objective of 75 aircraft per month in 2026 throughout its global production network.
This new cooperation agreement also aims at optimizing the Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) supply chain by diversifying the sources and enhancing SAF production toward the ambition of using 10 percent SAF by 2030, Airbus said.
The deals show our confidence in China’s investment environment, as the Chinese aviation industry will continue to grow, said Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury during an interview on Thursday.
Setting up the second assembly line in Tianjin means that 20 percent of single-aisle aircraft worldwide will be assembled in Tianjin. Upon completion at the end of 2025, there will be 10 assembly lines in the world, which will better help the production pace reach 75 aircraft per month in 2026, he said.
China now accounts for 20 percent of the annual deliveries by Airbus in the world. Airbus has produced 600 single-aisle aircraft in Tianjin and there are about 2,100 Airbus aircraft in China, which means that about 30 percent of the Airbus aircraft flying in China were manufactured in China.
When Airbus proposed the idea of building the first assembly line in Tianjin in 2005, the market share for Airbus in China was less than 20 percent, but the ratio increased to 50 percent within 10 years. “The resolution is the localization,” said George Xu, CEO of Airbus China.