TIANJIN, June 27 (Xinhua) — Airbus has, for the first time, delivered an aircraft assembled in north China’s Tianjin Municipality to a European client.
Hungary’s Wizz Air, the largest Central and Eastern European low-cost carrier, took delivery of its first A321neo aircraft assembled in Airbus’ Final Assembly Line (FAL Asia) at an event in Tianjin on Tuesday.
The delivery is a milestone for Airbus Tianjin, said Christoph Schrempp, general manager of Airbus Tianjin Delivery Center.
Against the backdrop of China’s strong economic recovery, FAL Asia has continued to boost its assembling capacity, helping meet the demand of more international customers and injecting new impetus into the global aviation market, he said.
To meet the increasing demand for the popular A321 model, Airbus announced its plan to expand the capability of its FAL in Tianjin to A321 production in 2021.
The A321neo, the largest member of the A320 family, can carry up to 244 passengers.
Inaugurated in 2008, the FAL in Tianjin was the first Airbus commercial aircraft assembly line outside Europe. Since its first A320 delivery in 2009, Airbus’ FAL in Tianjin has delivered more than 600 aircraft over its 14 years in operation.
In April, Airbus announced the building of a second assembly line in Tianjin to expand the production capacity of the A320 family of passenger aircraft to meet the demand of global clients.