News
First A330 delivery from Tianjin set for September
January 20th 2017
Airbus China this week said it aims to deliver the first A330 from its cabin completion and delivery centre in Tianjin in September. The manufacturer plans to gradually increase output to two wide-bodies a month by 2019. It broke ground on the new facility last March. Read More »
The OEM said there are 1,383 Airbus aircraft in service on the Mainland, which is more than half of the 100-plus-seater market. In 2016, it delivered a record 153 aircraft to Mainland airlines: 141 single-aisles and 12 A330s. Rival Boeing on Tuesday told Orient Aviation it plans to break ground on its first manufacturing plant in China, a B737 facility, later this year.
The Toulouse-headquartered plane maker aimed to deliver more than 700 aircraft in 2017, Airbus Commercial Aircraft president, Fabrice Bregier, said at a media briefing last week. It delivered a record 688 aircraft in 2016 and secured 731 net orders. Airbus chief operating officer – customers, John Leahy, in atypical fashion, accepted there could be fewer orders this year. “I would be very surprised if we are anywhere near our 1:1 book-to-bill,” he said.
Last week, Airbus and Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) announced they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to further develop the airline’s MRO capabilities. Specifically, Airbus will work with CAL subsidiary Taiwan Aircraft Maintenance and Engineering (TAMECO) in evaluating a series of technical and business solutions for all Airbus types operated by the airline, including the A350, A340/A330 and the A320 (part of the Tigerair Taiwan fleet).
Both parties will also explore and promote available retrofit, cabin and airframe modification services for the Airbus fleet. On the training side, Airbus will look at the feasibility of approving the carrier’s maintenance training centre as an official MRO partner, while helping with its training capabilities with ab-initio programs and mechanic courses cited.
