Further details have emerged about the Chinese consortium that will have a direct stake in Airbus’s new narrowbody aircraft assembly plant in Beijing’s port city of Tianjin.
China’s state-run newspaper China Daily says the consortium will be called Tianjin Zhongtian Aviation Industry Investment.
Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment will have a 60% stake in the business which will have registered capital of 300 million yuan ($38 million).
Jiangxi Hongdu Aviation Industry and Hafei Aviation Industry disclosed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 20 November that each would have a 10% stake in the Chinese consortium.
The China Daily says Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) I will have the remaining 20% stake. Jiangxi Hongdu and Hafei, which are Chinese aerospace companies based in Nanchang and Harbin, respectively, are part of AVIC II. AVIC I and AVIC II control most of China’s state-owned aviation firms.
Airbus is tight-lipped about the equity split between it and the Chinese consortium but earlier reports in China and overseas have cited unnamed industry sources as saying Airbus will have 51%.
The yet-to-be built A319/320 assembly plant will be located near Tianjin’s airport and it is due to deliver its first aircraft in 2009 and steadily increase production to four aircraft per month.
The plant will be modelled after Airbus’ assembly line in Hamburg in Germany and the airframe sub-assemblies will be sent by ship from Hamburg to Tianjin while the engines will be sent direct from the engine makers to Tianjin rather than via Hamburg.
Airbus is also examining whether A320 parts made in China can be sent direct to Tianjin rather than having to first go to Hamburg and then back to China.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
