Article Posted on : - Feb 02, 2009

Four Airbus A320 are assembled at general assemble workshop in north China's Tianjin municipality. Photo courtesy: People.com.cn

BEIJING (BNS): The first Airbus A320 aircraft assembled in China will make its first test flight in May, nearly a month before its delivery, an official in the northern port city of Tianjin said on Sunday.

Even as the preparations are underway for the A320’s flight, Airbus and a group of Chinese industrial partners have signed a contract in Madrid Friday last to establish a Joint Venture Manufacturing Centre in Harbin, China to manufacture composite material parts and components for the Airbus A350 XWB programme and Airbus A320 Family aircraft.

Feng Zhijiang, head of the administrative committee of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone, said that the test flight would be held at Tianjin airport, where a new runway is being built to facilitate trial flights of all A320 family aircraft.

In the first Airbus production outside Europe, presently five A320 planes are being assembled at Tianjin final assembly line. The official said that major parts of the aircraft had been put together in Hamburg, Germany, before being transported to Tianjin.

Chinese news agency Xinhua quoted Feng as saying that another 12 China-assembled A320 will be delivered next year. “They will adopt Chinese-made parts, including wings and fuselage, and assembly of the major parts will also be done here in Tianjin,” Feng was quoted as saying.

The agency said that the Airbus A320 final assembly line, the company’s third and based in Tianjin was launched in September. The other two are in France and Germany. The Tianjin facility is used for assembling A319 and A320 aircraft also.

In another major development, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) has worked a new deal with Airbus on a joint venture to jointly produce composite material parts and components for the new wide-body A350 aircraft in north China.

The deal was inked in Madrid on Friday between Airbus China and Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. (HAIG), a company under the AVIC. According to the deal the Chinese would hold an 80-percent stake, while the Airbus would hold the remaining 20 per cent in the new plant in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province.

The contract was signed by Laurence Barron, President of Airbus China, and Pang Jian, Chairman of the Board of Directors of HAIG and HAI in Madrid, Spain in the presence of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

Pang Jian, immediately after signing the deal said that it is a historical breakthrough for the relationship between HAIG / HAI and Airbus. “HAIG / HAI and Airbus have become risk sharing partners. We will share the profits of the joint venture and will jointly meet the challenges caused by global economic slowdown. The deal is a joint response of the Chinese partners and Airbus to these challenges. It is based on our confidence in the future economic growth of China and in the future development of the Chinese aviation industry together with Airbus. We will further promote and expand our strategic cooperation,” Pang Jian added.

“This project demonstrates once again Airbus’ long term commitment to the sustainable development of China’s aviation industry,” said Laurence Barron, President of Airbus China. “The joint venture is another step forward in our cooperation with Hafei, as Hafei was one of the founding members of our Airbus Engineering Centre in Beijing. We are very confident in the prospects for our joint venture with our Chinese partners in Harbin,” Barron added.

In a statement released to the media, the company said that Airbus was committed to forging a long-term strategic partnership with China. The total value of industrial cooperation between Airbus and the Chinese aviation industry is expected to be near $ 200 million per year in 2010 and $ 450 million per year in 2015, the statement said.