Airbus in China

Airbus China opened its Beijing office in 1990. It now employs more than 270 people – the majority of whom are Chinese nationals – and operates a string of local customer support offices to provide ready assistance to airlines. 
The Airbus Beijing training centre was set up jointly with the China Aviation Supplies Import & Export Corporation in 1998, and is the most modern such facility in the country – containing two full simulators, one for the A320 Family and one for the A330/A340 Family. The centre has trained thousands of maintenance engineers, cabin crew and pilots, many of whom come from outside China. 

Nearby is the Airbus customer support centre, which stocks approximately 25,000 spare parts available for dispatch to airlines in the Asia-Pacific region and was the first organisation in China to earn EN9100 approval. In addition, more than 20 European and American vendors supporting Airbus customers operate out of the centre, which also has a dedicated avionics repair workshop.

The first Airbus final assembly line to operate outside of Europe, located in Tianjin, officially opened on 28 September 2008. This production site for A320 Family aircraft is a joint venture between Airbus and a Chinese consortium of Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) and China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC).

On 18 May 2009, the facility marked a milestone when the Chinese final assembly line's first jetliner - an A320 - completed its maiden flight, taking off from Tianjin International Airport for a 4 hr. 14 min. airborne evaluation. This same A320 was delivered on 23 June 2009 to Dragon Aviation Leasing for operation by Chengu-based carrier Sichuan Airlines, marking the first customer handover of an Airbus jetliner produced outside Europe. 

From 1 January to 26 May 2010, Airbus delivered a total of 10 A320 Family jetliners assembled in Tianjin – demonstrating that this facility’s production ramp-up was on track at the rate of two aircraft per month. The Chinese final assembly line’s output will continue to ramp up to the planned four monthly pace by 2012. 

Airbus handed over the 50th jetliner assembled in Tianjin to Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines during June 2011 – less than two years after delivery of the no. 1 aircraft produced at this Chinese final assembly line. The milestone was highlighted by a special event held at the Airbus Tianjin Delivery Centre, which was attended by National Development and Reform Commission of China and Tianjin government officials, Juneyao Airlines executives and representatives from Airbus.

In October 2009, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tianjin Free Trade Zone to establish a Logistics Centre in Tianjin that would optimise the supply chain management for all of Airbus’ industrial cooperation projects in China.

The Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre (ABEC), which first opened in July 2005, is a joint venture between Airbus and China's two largest aviation companies – China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVICI) and China Aviation Industry Corporation II (AVICII). ABEC's engineers work on specific design packages for new programmes, including the design and development of the A350 XWB. 

In February 2011, Airbus and its Chinese partners inaugurated the Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre – an eco-efficient joint venture located in Harbin, China that will produce composite parts for the new-generation A350 XWB jetliner. This facility features highly advanced equipment and technology, including automated-tape-laying, autoclave, automated trimming, and non-destructive test equipment.  Its initial size of 33,800 square metres is expected to expand, ultimately becoming an 80,000-square-metre manufacturing compound comprising production, technical support, office areas and other services.

Airbus China Limited and its subsidiaries – comprised of the Hua-Ou Aviation Training Centre, Hua-Ou Aviation Support Centre and Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre – have been awarded International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 14001 certification status for their environmental management systems. This certification highlights achievements in monitoring and minimising the effect their operations have on the environment. 

More than 710 Airbus aircraft were in operation with airlines in China as of October 2011, with huge potential for future growth in the region. Within the next 20 years, China is expected to become the second biggest aviation market in the world. By 2020, some 100 million Chinese tourists will be travelling internationally. 

Chinese airlines therefore expect to be transporting many times their current level of passengers, creating a growing demand for aircraft. 

In 1985, Shanghai-based CAAC (now China Eastern Airlines) became the country’s first airline to realise the benefits of flying Airbus jetliners. The carrier currently operates a fleet of more than 175 aircraft, while flag carrier Air China has over 110 and Sichuan Airlines operates in excess of 60.

Guangzhou-based China Southern Airlines is Airbus’ largest customer in China, with an in-service fleet that includes more than 185 Airbus aircraft – ranging from single-aisle A319s, A320s and A321s to widebody A330-200s and A330-300s. China Southern also became the first Chinese airline to receive Airbus’ 21st century flagship A380 with handover of its no. 1 aircraft in October 2011.  
Airbus not only values its relationship with airlines in China, it also appreciates the enormous potential offered by Chinese industry. 

In addition, over half the Airbus fleet in service worldwide has parts produced by Chinese companies with whom Airbus already enjoys strong relations: 

• The Chengdu Aircraft Corporation supplies the rear passenger door and parts of its nose section for the A320. 
• The Shenyang Aircraft Corporation produces and assembles the emergency exit doors and manufactures fixed leading edges, wing interspar ribs, cargo doors and skin plates for the A320 Family. The Xi’an Aircraft Company produces electronic bay doors for the A320 and A330/A340 Families, as well as the fixed trailing edges on wings for the A320 Family and the brake blades and medium air ducts for the A330/A340 Family. 
• Hong Yuan Aviation Forging & Casting (HYFC) produces titanium forging parts to mount powerplants on to wings. The Guizhou Aviation Industrial Group produces maintenance jigs and tools for Airbus aircraft. 

Airbus also seeks to form new industrial partnerships whenever possible. For example, the A318 is the first new Airbus aircraft to have been developed with support from a team of Chinese engineers. The specially-commissioned roll-on, roll-off ship that transports A380 components was built at the Jinling shipyard. 
In addition, Airbus has several major technology transfer programmes underway, including one that will enable the complete wing of the A320 Family to be manufactured in China. The success of such projects means that as Airbus increases production, it can continue to expand in the region.