BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Airbus plans to deliver the 600th A320 family aircraft assembled at its Asia final assembly line in north China's Tianjin Municipality in 2022, said Airbus China Friday.
Airbus is ramping up production of the single-aisle A320 series aircraft to meet demands from the global market. The Tianjin final assembly line is also adapting to serve the recovering Chinese civil aviation market better, said George Xu, the executive vice president of Airbus and the chief executive officer of Airbus China.
"Airbus is confident in the Chinese market. We are committed to deeply integrating into the market and getting prepared together with local partners," said Xu.
By now, the Airbus Asia final assembly line in Tianjin can work on the A319 and A320 aircraft of the A320 family. After completing the adaptation work, the production facility here will also conduct the final assembly on the A321. It is the largest member of the family.
Airbus expects to deliver the first China-assembled A321 aircraft from Tianjin this year, said Airbus China.
In 2021, Airbus delivered 142 commercial planes into the Chinese market, a more than 40 percent year-on-year increase. The figure accounted for over 23 percent of its global delivery.
Airbus Asia's final assembly line completed and delivered 53 A320 family aircraft in 2021.
The European plane-maker in 2008 inaugurated the A320 family's final assembly line in Tianjin. By the end of 2021, Airbus had assembled and delivered 555 A320 series aircraft from the facility.
According to Airbus' forecast in November 2021, the global commercial aircraft market is expected to recover to pre-COVID-19 levels between 2023 and 2025, led by the single-aisle aircraft segment.
China will be a vital engine for the recovery of the global civil aviation market. The country's continuously growing market would need around 8,200 new commercial aircraft over the 2020-2040 period, accounting for more than 20 percent of the global demand. ■
