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“Boeing China” to open this year
May 11th 2018
Boeing hoped to open its B737 completion and delivery centre in Zhoushan by the end of this year, CEO Dennis Muilenburg, said in an earnings call. Read More »
Zhoushan will be Boeing’s first overseas completion facility, which the OEM will operate as a joint venture with Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC). “We're still driving towards a goal of beginning to have operational capability towards the end of this year,” Muilenburg said.
Boeing has said the Zhoushan plant will have an annual capacity of 100 B737 completions and deliveries.
The Chicago-headquartered aerospace company is playing catch-up with its European rival, Airbus, in China. Airbus has been delivering A320s from its Tianjin Final Assembly Line (FAL) since 2009. Airbus is assembling four A320s a month in Tianjin. By early 2019, the Tianjin FAL will increase monthly output to five aircraft and produce six A320s every 30 days by early 2020, according to an agreement signed in January.
In 2017, Airbus opened an A330 wide body completion and delivery centre adjacent to its A320 FAL. Bullish about A330 demand from Chinese customers, Airbus plans to deliver 24 A330s a year from Tianjin by 2019.
