BEIJING - China's
national planning agency has approved Airbus'
selection of Tianjin for the location
of its A320 passenger jet assembly line, the first
outside the aircraft maker's European base. The
assembly line will be located in the Binhai New
Area (BNA) of Tianjin, a northern port city, said
the National Development and Reform Commission
(NDRC) on June 8.
The first aircraft is
expected to roll off the line in 2008 and four
aircraft will be manufactured every month by 2011,
according to a cooperation memorandum signed by
the two sides. The
commission said that the
launch of the assembly line is an important step
for the two sides in terms of building long-term
and sustainable cooperation in the aviation
sector.
The A320 is a major single-aisle
aircraft model with 150 seats, a size that is in
great market demand. Aircraft manufactured by the
assembly line will meet the standards of its
European assembly line, the commission said.
Presently Airbus is making preliminary
preparations for the launch of the assembly line.
It will be the first time that single-aisle
commercial airliners are entirely produced in
China.
Airbus announced its plan to launch
the line in China at the beginning of this year,
and candidate cities included Tianjin, Shanghai, Xi'an in
western Shaanxi province and
Zhuhai in southern Guangdong province.
China has just announced preferential
policies for BNA, to develop it into a research
base for modern high-grade manufacturing and an
international aviation center in the north, which
will provide a good platform for the development
of Airbus' assembly line.
The great
potential of China's aviation market attracted
Airbus to place the line in China, said Dr Li
Yanhua of China's Civil Aviation University.
It has been predicted that China's civil
aviation sector will need more than 100 new
aircraft every year. Over the next 15 years, about
1,200 new aircraft will be needed by China's civil
aviation sector.
Airbus entered China's
aviation market in 1985, and has seen the number
of its aircraft in China increase by ten times in
the past decade. At present, Airbus enjoys a 39%
share of China's civil aviation market, with the
remaining 61% going to Boeing.
Insiders
said that Airbus' launch of an assembly line in
China will lead to fiercer competition between the
two aircraft giants in the country, and also said
that the launch of the line marks an important
step for China in manufacturing large aircraft,
and indicates the adjustment of China's strategies
for manufacturing large aircraft.
China
has put forward the plan of large aircraft
manufacturing in its 11th five-year development
plan, which has also been listed as a major
project in the country's long and mid-term
development plan for science and technology. Dr Li
said that the assembly line, to some extent, will
promote China's innovation in aircraft
manufacturing and help improve the country's
mastery of related technologies.
