Airbus is participating in the 17th Aviation Expo China (Beijing Airshow) in Beijing from 19th to 22nd September and reveals its latest business in China.

As the statistics show, by the end of August in 2017, the in-service Airbus fleet in Chinese mainland has reached 1484, including 1,263 A320 Family aircraft, 202 A330 Family aircraft, five A380s as well as Airbus freighters and Airbus Corporate Jets. With more than 200 aircraft in service with nine operators, A330 Family is the most popular wide-body aircraft in China.

"We are fully confident in the Chinese market, which is set to be the largest civil aviation market in the world," says Eric Chen, President of Airbus Commercial Aircraft China. "China's 'Belt and Road' initiative brings new opportunities and challenges to Chinese civil aviation industry. And we are committed to the long term development of the Chinese aviation industry by providing Chinese airlines with the world's top performing aircraft and the industry's top level of services and support."

"We also have been carrying out all-round cooperation with China in various fields including aeronautic manufacturing, air traffic management as well as research and technology", he added.

Along with the continuous growth of its fleet in China, Airbus is expanding its industrial footprint in China as well. Airbus initiated the idea on establishing a joint venture with Chinese partners on single-aisle FAL in 2005. And nine years ago, A320 FAL and an Airbus Delivery Centre were established in Tianjin in 2008. Today, it produces four aircraft per month and 335 aircraft (by Sep 6, 2017) have already been assembled in and delivered from Tianjin.

Now, A320 FAL in Tianjin is named as A320 FAL Asia and will deliver aircraft not only to Chinese customers, but operators in Asia.

Another significant step forward was taken again with an Airbus A330 Completion and Delivery Centre (A330 CDC) starting construction in Tianjin in March 2016. As introduced by Airbus Commercial Aircraft China COO Francois Mery, A330 CDC is to be inaugurated and deliver its first aircraft in Tianjin in the coming days.

A330 CDC in Tianjin's work includes cabin equipping, furnishing and the exterior painting. "The cabin installation of A330, compared to single aisle aircraft, is around 4 times more complex. That means we're conducting complex manufacturing and integration tasks in China", said Francois Mery.

China introduced the first Airbus aircraft in 1985. Today, some 1,484 Airbus aircraft are being operated by Chinese airlines, accounting for some 50% of the total fleet of aircraft over 100 seats in China.

Airbus has a significant industrial presence in China. Airbus now has five joint ventures with Chinese partners covering training and support, engineering, final assembly and composite manufacturing, in addition to a number of cooperation projects. The total value of industrial cooperation between Airbus and the Chinese aviation industry has been rapidly growing from US$140 million in 2009 to US$500 million in 2015. And Airbus targets to US$1 billion per year by 2020.

Contributed by Airbus