Airbus has begun transporting aircraft sections to its new final-assembly line at Tianjin, in China, ahead of the first A320 assembly which is expected to begin in August.
Forward and rear fuselage sections, as well as the first aircraft’s wings, engine pylons, horizontal stabiliser and vertical fin have been shipped by barge from Hamburg, and will be transferred to a container ship for the voyage to Tianjin.
Transportation to China will take less than a month, says Airbus. “Construction work on the site is progressing successfully and the training of the Chinese workers at our production facilities in Toulouse and Hamburg is going very well,” it adds.
Delivery of the first Chinese-built A320, for Sichuan Airlines, is scheduled for the first half of next year.