Airbus China plant delivers 153 A320 aircraft

TIANJIN - The Airbus assembly plant in China's northern port city of Tianjin has delivered 153 A320 aircraft since it began operation in 2008, according to an Airbus press briefing on Thursday.

"The Tianjin plant delivered 37 A320 aircraft last year. The production efficiency has improved this year with one aircraft being delivered every week," said Andreas Ockel, general manager of Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Company, Ltd.

Airbus delivered 588 aircraft from January to October of this year. Among them, 125 were delivered to the Chinese market and 37 were assembled in the Tianjin plant, he said.

The Tianjin plant is expected to deliver 46 A320 aircraft in 2013, he said.

The Tianjin plant will push forward the assembly of A330 aircraft in 2014, which will be a new focus of Airbus's business in China in the next decade, said Rafael Gonzalez-Ripoll, Airbus China Chief Operating Officer.

The A320 assembly line in Tianjin, the only Airbus final assembly line outside Europe, began operation in September 2008 as a joint venture between Airbus and a Chinese consortium of the Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corporation.