As relations between China and the U.S. continue to deteriorate, an official state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to Beijing on Thursday served as a backdrop for Airbus’s latest cooperative venture with the People’s Republic. The European airframer signed an agreement with Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Company and Aviation Industry Corporation of China to expand production capacity for the A320 airliner family with a second assembly line in Tianjin.
Witnessed by Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury, the agreement will help the company meet its global production rate objective of 75 aircraft per month in 2026.
Airbus maintains four A320 family final assembly sites, in Hamburg, Germany; Toulouse, France; Mobile, Alabama; and Tianjin in China. The Tianjin final assembly line (FAL Asia) started operation in 2008 and has assembled more than 600 A320 family aircraft. The factory in Tianjin last month delivered the first A321neo produced on the existing line.
Also during the high-profile occasion, Airbus signed a general terms of agreement document with the China Aviation Supplies Holding Company covering the purchase of 160 Airbus commercial aircraft. The agreement includes earlier deals covering 150 A320 family aircraft and 10 A350-900 widebodies, reflecting what Airbus characterizes as strong demand in all market segments by Chinese carriers.
Airbus projections put the growth of China’s air traffic at 5.3 percent annually, compared with the world average of 3.6 percent. The traffic increases will result in demand for 8,420 passenger and freighter aircraft between now and 2041, representing more than 20 percent of the world's total demand for around 39,500 new aircraft in the next 20 years, said Airbus.
In line with its sustainability strategy, Airbus also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China National Aviation Fuel Group (CNAF) to deepen Chinese-European cooperation on the production, application, and common formulation standards for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Last September, Airbus and CNAF agreed to support the use of SAF for commercial and delivery flights in China. By the end of March, the partners facilitated 17 delivery flights and a first commercial flight. The latest agreement aims to diversify the SAF supply chain to help realize ambitions to power flights with 10 percent SAF by 2030.
“We are honored to continue our long-standing cooperation by supporting China’s civil aviation growth with our leading families of aircraft,” said Faury. “It underpins the positive recovery momentum and prosperous outlook for the Chinese aviation market and the desire to grow sustainably with Airbus’s latest generation, eco-efficient aircraft.”
By the end of the first quarter, the Airbus in-service fleet in China has risen to more than 2,100 aircraft, representing more than 50 percent of the market.
Separately, Airbus on Thursday said it collected a firm order from Azerbaijan Airlines for 12 A320neo family jets. Sealed during a signing ceremony in the western Asian country's capital Baku, the contract aligns with the flag carrier’s commitment to expanding its Airbus fleet, now composed of four A319s, six A320s, three A320neos, and two A340s.