CHINA/FILE: Airbus begins construction of its first assembly plant outside Europe in northern Chinese city of Tianjin

Airbus begins construction of its first assembly plant outside Europe in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin. A ground-breaking ceremony was held on Tuesday (May 15) in the northern Chinese city of Tianjin to mark the official launch of the first Chinese Airbus A320 assembly plant. Airbus, controlled by Franco-German firm EADS, owns 51 percent of the plant, which would be capable of assembling up to four planes per month as early as the beginning of 2009. The Tianjin city government holds a 29 percent stake in the plant, with the reminder shared by Chinese partners including Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry. Fabrice Bregier, chief operating officer at Airbus, attended the ceremony and told reporters at the ceremony in Tianjin's Binhai industrial area. He told reporters: "It is a very strategic project, because we move from a seller to a strategic partner, and we are the first one to assemble our aircraft outside Europe, outside our bases. So it's great news, I think, for China and for Airbus." Although the European planemaker is downsizing in its home market, Airbus says it aims to integrate China increasingly into its industrial organisation. "The Chinese market will become the first market in the world in the coming 10 or 20 years, Bregier said. "We plan 3,000 aircraft for the next 20 years and Airbus so far has a limited market share. We have about 35 per cent of the aircraft which are Airbus aircraft now, and we intend to increase it to 50 per cent. "We have more than 400 aircraft in our backlog, which is about 60 per cent of all the aircraft ordered by China. So it means we are now the leader on the Chinese market." Airbus is trailing Boeing in China but has outdone the U.S. company in new orders for the past two years. Bregier said he was confident that Airbus would be the biggest supplier to the world's most populous country. "We have the best products. We develop the support for aircraft, the training of pilots. On top of that, you can see here we invest a lot at industrial cooperation level," he said. China is the second-largest aviation market in the world after the United States. By 2025, it was expected to need 3,000 passenger and cargo aircraft, At 5,000 orders, the A320 is the most popular model for the European aircraft maker. About 270 of them are flying in China, accounting for 80 per cent of the country's Airbus fleet.

ITN Source | May 16, 2007

Tags:. .beginning. .model. .told. .past. .controlled