Airbus signs fresh deal with Chinese partner amid talk of massive China order
The European aviation giant will work with its partner AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group to start fuselage equipping – installing components onto the front and rear parts of an aircraft – for the A321 at its factory in Tianjin under the agreement.
The programme is an extension of the companies' similar cooperation on the A320 and sends a positive signal in the run-up to next week's summit in Beijing, where some analysts predict Airbus may sign a 'mega-deal' worth tens of billions of dollars.
'It has expanded the scope of cooperation between both parties in the manufacturing of Airbus single-aisle aircraft, and is also an important measure by Airbus to continuously implement its localisation strategy,' George Xu, CEO of Airbus China, told state media outlet Xinhua News on Tuesday.
'China's supply chain is an indispensable part of the global aviation industry, showing strong resilience and competitiveness,' he said.
The front and rear of the first A321 to undergo fuselage equipping in Tianjin were shipped to the factory at the beginning of the month, and Airbus expects the installation of the components to be completed by October.
The whole process includes incoming inspection, insulation installation, bracket installation, as well as installation and testing of electrical, electronic, drainage, oxygen, flight control and hydraulic systems, according to an Airbus statement published on Tuesday.
The Tianjin factory also houses Airbus' first commercial aircraft assembly line outside Europe. Inaugurated in 2008, it assembled and delivered its first A321 aircraft in 2023.
Airbus and AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group first agreed to work together on this new project during the Zhuhai Air Show in 2023, following their successful cooperation with the A320 model.
Since 2021, when that earlier programme started, AVIC Xi'an Aircraft Industry Group has delivered 104 A320 aircraft body parts to Airbus, according to the statement.
China's three major state-owned airlines – Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines – placed an order for 292 Airbus A320neo aircraft in 2022. The deal, worth about US$37.2 billion, was the biggest single aircraft order in the airlines' history.
There has been market speculation that China might announce a deal of a similar magnitude with Airbus during the China-European Union summit in late July.
However, no official confirmation of a deal has been announced so far, and relations between Beijing and Brussels remain tense ahead of the summit, which has reportedly been cut from two days to just one. - SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
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