By Brendan Sobie in Singapore
Better access, less bureaucracy and availability of labour seal city’s selection
China’s port city of Tianjin is frontrunner for selection as the site of Airbus China’s A320 family assembly line, industry sources say.
Airbus China has selected Tianjin over three other Chinese cities and is concluding a deal to assemble A320s at a new factory to be built there, sources say. The other short-listed contenders are: Zhuhai, a port city near Macau in southern China; Shanghai, home to Shanghai Aircraft which used to assemble McDonnell Douglas airliners; and Xian in western China, home to Xian Aircraft (XAC).
Sources say Airbus selected Tianjin because it is a port city, so aircraft parts can be shipped in and out readily; because it can build a new assembly plant there rather than rely on an existing Chinese manufacturer’s plant and equipment; and because there are already aerospace workers in the region since BHA Aero Composite Parts is also based there.
Having the assembly line in a new purpose-built building is advantageous because Airbus avoids having to deal with any bureaucracy or ingrained work practices that may be prevalent at existing aircraft manufacturing plants, say the sources.
Airbus China president Laurence Barron declines to disclose if Tianjin has been chosen, but says an announcement is imminent. “It is not for Airbus to choose alone,” he says, adding that “it is…a joint decision of Airbus and the Chinese government. An announcement is expected shortly.”
Even though Chinese aircraft manufacturers do not have any aircraft assembly lines in Tianjin, the city has attracted investment from foreign aerospace companies.
Dutch firm Stork Aerospace’s Fokker Elmo subsidiary has a plant near Tianjin where it manufactures electrical wiring for aircraft. As well as BHA Aero Composite Parts – a joint venture between Boeing, US carbonfibre producer Hexcel and China Aviation Industries I (AVIC I) – Tianjin is the site of the main campus of the Civil Aviation University of China.
Tianjin is a few hours drive from the Chinese capital and is one of only four cities in China that reports directly to the national government rather than to a provincial government, which means investors there have one less layer of bureaucracy to deal with.
Tianjin mayor Dai Xianglong is a former governor of the Bank of China and considered keen to attract foreign investment. Earlier this month Dai was in France lobbying investors, including Airbus.
Airbus said in February that it would decide by mid-year on the assembly plant and its location. It is aiming to start delivering aircraft from China in 2008 and produce four per month by 2010.
Airbus currently assembles A320-family aircraft in Toulouse and Hamburg, but agreed to evaluate the creation of a Chinese line last year when it signed a deal with Beijing for 150 aircraft.
Source: Flight International
