Airbus (Tianjin) Logistics is now fully operational in its brand new facilities in the Tianjin Free Trade Zone Comprehensive Bonded Area. With a logistics facility design similar to Europe, the main purpose of the company is to optimise and support supply chain management of present and future industrial cooperation programmes of EADS and Airbus in China.

A ceremony was held today to mark the opening of Airbus (Tianjin) Logistics. Chinese government officials, representatives of Airbus and its partners, and other aviation industry professionals attended the event. By establishing this logistics company in Tianjin, Airbus aims in particular to optimize all transport and logistics activities related to Airbus in China as part of its worldwide supply chain.

Today, a number of Chinese companies are directly involved in manufacturing parts and components for Airbus aircraft. These companies are located in different cities, including Harbin, Shenyang, Tianjin, Xi'an, Chengdu and Shanghai, and each supply chain is organised separately. A harmonised and streamlined supply chain will increase the efficiency of the Airbus production lines and reduce logistics costs.

"Airbus (Tianjin) Logistics will provide strong support to all industrial exchanges between China and the rest of the world, which are needed as a result of our expanding industrial activities in China. The Airbus logistics centre in Tianjin is another step forward in our cooperation with Tianjin, where we already have the A320 Family Final Assembly Line and Delivery Centre," said Laurence Barron, Airbus China President. "This improvement in our logistics set-up will also support the production of the A350 XWB, of which five percent of the airframe will be manufactured in China".

In October 2009, Airbus signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tianjin Free Trade Zone on the establishment of a logistics hub in Tianjin. In 2010, the logistics centre started operations in temporary facilities, having served already two major aeronautic projects in Tianjin: the A320 wing equipping project and the assembling and testing of the wing slats by SINELSON AERO (Tianjin) to be installed on aircraft assembled at the FALC.

Contributed by Airbus S.A.S.