First A350 Elevators assembled in China finished.

 

Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre (HMC), a joint venture between Airbus and its Chinese partners, has presented in a ceremony the first ship set of A350 Elevators assembled in China.

HMC is a Tier2 of Spain-based Aernnova Aerospace (ANN) Tier1, who will deliver them to the Airbus plant in Getafe (Spain) for the MSN13 in 2014, where they will be integrated into the horizontal tail plane HTP.

Under a contract signed by HMC and ANN in 2010, HMC is responsible for manufacturing and assembling the complete set of carbon fibre elevators. During the initial phase the A350 elevators have been solely produced at ANN. Assembly in China started in 2012 and the manufacturing in 2013. After a period of transition, during which the elevators are produced at both ANN and HMC, the Harbin Manufacturing Centre will become the sole supplier of A350 XWB elevators.

Rafael González-Ripoll, Airbus China COO, said: “This delivery is an important milestone in our long-term partnership with the Chinese aviation industry. The Chinese have every reason to be proud of the contribution they are making to the A350 XWB.”

Geng Ruguang, Executive Vice President of AVIC, the parent company of the majority shareholding Chinese partners of the HMC, said: “It’s inspiring for the Chinese aviation industry to be involved in the development and production of the A350 XWB, which is the world’s most advanced and most efficient aircraft, and to become an integrated part of Airbus’ global supply chain. The delivery of the first A350 XWB elevator demonstrates one more step forward of HMC towards its set target. The development of HMC will also constitute a pulling force for the relevant local industries.”

Pedro Fuente, COO of Aernnova, said: “We at Aernnova are really satisfied with the very effective teamwork model developed together with the HMC to industrialize and progressively transfer the A350 XWB Elevators. We are impressed by the fast growing capabilities we are seeing every day. Clearly these are great pillars for a long term collaboration and mutual success.”

Among the participants at the ceremony were Chinese government officials, Spanish Government representatives, executives of Airbus and its Chinese partners including AVIC, representatives of Aernnova and other industry professionals.




Based on the press release “Harbin Composite Manufacturing Centre delivers 1st major A350 part.”