A350 cabin completion and deliveries from China?

Airbus is already eyeing an expanded future role for its planned A330 Completion and Delivery Centre (C&DC) in Tianjin, with the airframer keen for the site to also support its A350 model.

C&DC will cover the aircraft completion activities including reception, cabin installation, aircraft painting, engine run and flight test, as well as aircraft delivery and customer flight acceptance.

Under the project, the A330 Family aircraft to be completed at the A330 C&DC Tianjin will be assembled in Toulouse but will be painted and have their cabin furnished and installed in Tianjin.

Speaking to Flight International in Beijing, Airbus China COO Rafael González Ripoll said the company hopes to have broken ground on the widebody facility by next May/2016. It will be connected to its existing A320 FAL by a 600m-long road.

The target for the Delivery Centre announced in July is to complete its 1^st A330 in October/2017, ramping up over a period of around 3 years to a production rate of 2 aircraft per month.

González Ripoll said Airbus intends not only to complete A330s and A330neos at the centre, but also to undertake work on the A350.

“It´s a great opportunity for Chinese industry to make a step change in its capacity to develop cabin interior components from seats, galleys, panels and everything you can imagine”, he said.

Airbus will invest CNY900 million ($141 million) in the widebody completions project, which also should provide around 300 new jobs.

Source: Manuel Belleli

Airbus is participating in the 16th Aviation Expo China (Beijing Airshow), in Beijing from 16-19/September.

Airbus has a significant industrial presence in China with the A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, the Airbus (Beijing) Engineering Centre and the Composite Manufacturing Centre in Harbin.

Based on the article “Airbus envisions A350 completions at planned Tianjin facility” published in Flight International.