Photo: Courtesy of Airbus

Airbus on Wednesday announced the commissioning of the first A321 aircraft to be assembled at its Final Assembly Line Asia (FAL Tianjin) in North China's Tianjin Municipality.

The breakthrough expands and deepens the collaboration with China's aviation industry, and demonstrates Airbus' commitment to enhance its long-term strategic partnership with China.  

The FAL in Tianjin officially started the adaptation work to become A321-capable in August 2022. It is the first major upgrade of the assembly line since operations commenced in 2008. FAL Tianjin's first A321 aircraft is scheduled for delivery in early 2023.

Photo: Courtesy of Airbus

"The Airbus Tianjin team has successfully completed the relevant adaptation work on schedule by working closely with European experts and our suppliers to overcome the impact of COVID-19," said George Xu, Airbus executive vice president and Airbus China CEO. 

Airbus announced plans to expand the capability of FAL Tianjin to include A321 production last November.

Airbus has four A320 family assembly facilities around the world, in Toulouse in France, Hamburg in Germany, Tianjin in China and Mobile in the US. By the end of 2022, all its commercial aircraft assembly sites will be A321-capable.

Inaugurated in 2008, FAL Tianjin was the first Airbus commercial aircraft assembly line outside Europe. In the same year, the first aircraft sections arrived on site. Since its first A320 delivery in 2009, FAL Tianjin has delivered more than 600 aircraft over its 14 years in operation. It has become a role model for successful Sino-European cooperation.

Airbus has signed a number of cooperation agreements on aftermarket services with its Chinese partners at the Zhuhai Airshow, covering a wide range of services including maintenance, cabin seat solutions and material services.

Global Times