Airbus Inaugurates Second A320 Assembly Line In China
Airbus has inaugurated a second A320-family final assembly line (FAL) at its site in Tianjin, China, as the European airframer expands production capacity toward its target of building 75 A320s per month by 2027.
Airbus has inaugurated a second A320-family final assembly line (FAL) at its site in Tianjin, China, as the European airframer expands production capacity toward its target of building 75 A320s per month by 2027.
The new line stems from an agreement signed in April 2023 and is expected to be fully operational by 2026. Once online, it will bring Airbus’ total number of global A320 FALs to 10—four in Hamburg; two in Toulouse; two in Mobile, Alabama; and two in Tianjin.
“We welcome the addition of Tianjin’s second line to our global production system, as it provides us with the necessary flexibility and capacity to deliver on our plan to assemble 75 A320 family aircraft per month in 2027,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said Oct. 22.
While primarily serving Chinese customers, the Tianjin facility has also delivered aircraft to other Asia-Pacific operators. Opened in 2008 as Airbus’ first FAL outside Europe, the site has produced more than 750 A320 family aircraft to date. July saw the level of local Chinese involvement on the line increase as AVIC Xi’an Aircraft International began equipping the front and rear fuselage sections for the A321 in Tianjin.
Aviation Week has reached out to Airbus China for further details on the second line’s planned output.
According to Aviation Week’s Fleet Discovery database, China operates 1,759 A320 family aircraft, with a further 351 on order. In the Asia-Pacific region, an additional 1,341 A320 family aircraft are on backlog.
