Eleven A320 Family Aircraft Delivered From Tianjin On
Schedule
The Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line China (FALC) has
achieved its 2009 target, as the 11th A320 Family aircraft
assembled by the FALC was delivered to Deer Air, an airline part of
the HNA Group, on Wednesday in Tianjin.
The first A320 assembled by the FALC was delivered to Sichuan
Airlines via Dragon Aviation Leasing on 23rd June 2009. Since then,
a total of five A320 and five A319 assembled by the FALC have been
delivered and are now in operation with Sichuan Airlines, Deer Air,
Shenzhen Airlines and China Eastern Airlines.
"We are very proud to have achieved our target in the first year
of operation, on schedule and on quality. When we started
operations in August 2008, we had two challenges: deliver Airbus
quality from Tianjin and ensure a smooth ramp up of production.
Both objectives were reached thanks to our Chinese partners' daily
commitment as well as Airbus' active support at all levels. The
success achieved in FALC is definitely a way forward for the
continuous industrial cooperation between Airbus and China," said
Laurence Barron, Airbus China President.
"This is a significant step for the development of FALC and is
the result of the joint-efforts made by the Chinese and the
European partners. FALC is an excellent example of the cooperation
between the Chinese aviation industry and the rest of the world.
FALC is a driving force for the development of the Aviation
Industrial Base in Tianjin," said Zhao Haishan, Chairman of the
Board of Directors of Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Company
Ltd.
The A320 Family, which includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321,
is recognized as the benchmark single-aisle aircraft family. Each
aircraft features fly-by-wire controls and all share a unique
cockpit and operational commonality across the range. More than
6,400 Airbus A320 Family aircraft have been sold to 221 customers
worldwide, making it the world's best-selling commercial jetliner
ever. With proven reliability and extended servicing periods, the
A320 Family has the lowest operating costs of any single-aisle
aircraft. Uniquely, the A320 Family offers a containerized cargo
system, which is compatible with the world wide standard wide-body
system.
By the end of November 2009, 442 A320 Family aircraft are in
operation with 12 operators in China. Chinese airlines have ordered
close to 600 A320 Family aircraft in total.