Airbus will announce the Chinese production site for its
A320-family single-aisle aircraft next month, making China the
first country assembling Airbus jets outside of Europe.
The four candidate cities are Tianjin, Shanghai, Xi'an of
Shaanxi Province and Zhuhai of Guangdong Province.
The European aircraft giant said details of its partnership with
the Chinese aviation industry, including the annual production
volume and the name of its partner, would be made public by the
middle of the year.
Laurence Barron, president of Airbus China, made the remarks
last Friday on the sidelines of the delivery of two A319s to
Shenzhen Airlines.
Airbus and the National Development and Reform Commission of
China began studying the feasibility of setting up an assembly line
in China shortly after the two sides signed a memorandum of
understanding during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to France at the
end of last year.
Currently five affiliates of China Aviation Industry Corp I
(AVIC I) and AVIC II are producing parts for Airbus aircraft. The
aircraft is assembled in France and Germany.
At the same time, Barron said Airbus will sign official
agreement with AVIC I and AVIC about details of the work share of
the Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre in the first half of this
year.
The engineering centre was set up last July and will design the
A350 parts to be manufactured in China. The agreement will decide
which part of the ultra-long range A350 will be designed at the
centre.
Airbus has agreed to allocate up to 5 percent of the work share
to China.
The centre will be a joint venture in which AVIC II holds a
25-per-cent share, AVIC I takes 5 percent and Airbus holds the
rest, Barron said earlier last year.
The double-decker A380 will be showcased at Asian Aerospace 2006
beginning today in Singapore, Airbus said in a newsletter
yesterday.
It said the super jumbo would fly to China for the first time
later this year during the sixth China International Aviation and
Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province.
"If possible, we would also like to have a tour for the A380 in
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou," Airbus said.
Airbus plans to deliver about 80 aircraft to China in 2006,
Barron said. Last year the Toulouse-based company delivered 65
planes to Chinese airlines, a 20 percent year-on-year rise,
accounting for one-fifth of its global delivery.
Shenzhen Airlines will have six A320 family aircraft in service
this year including the two new A319s that arrived last Friday.
(China Daily February 21, 2006)