The Airplane Flies Its First Route The Day After Delivery
Airbus delivered the first A320
aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line China (FALC) in
Tianjin on Wednesday. At a grand ceremony, the aircraft was handed
over by Airbus President and CEO, Tom Enders, to the Chairman of
Dragon Aviation Leasing, Li Hai. The aircraft will be leased to and
operated by Sichuan Airlines.
Tianjin Party Secretary Zhang Gaoli, Mayor of Tianjin, Huang
Xingguo, as well as German State Secretary (Federal Ministry of
Economics and Technology) Hartmut Schauerte and the President of
Sichuan Airlines, Lan Xinguo were present at the ceremony attended
by more than 1000 guests.
"The highly reliable and efficient Airbus aircraft are very
valuable assets of aircraft leasing companies. As a China-based
company, Dragon Aviation Leasing is proud to take delivery of the
first Airbus aircraft assembled in China," said Li Hai, Chairman of
Dragon Aviation Leasing.
"Sichuan Airlines was the first Chinese airline to introduce the
A320 Family aircraft in China in 1995. Today, we are proud to
become the operator of the first A320 assembled in China. We
believe that the Airbus aircraft further enhances our profitability
and competitiveness with low operational costs and high
reliability," said Lan Xinguo, President of Sichuan Airlines.
"Our Final Assembly Line here in Tianjin and this first aircraft
delivery outside Europe mark an important milestone in our
strategic long-term partnership with China and the Chinese
industry," said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO. "This FAL is
state of the art, second to none in the world. And so are the
aircraft manufactured here in Tianjin. I would like to thank all
our partners and employees who worked very hard during the last
three years to make this happen."
File Photo
The Export-Import Bank of China, a strategic long term partner
to Dragon Aviation Leasing, has been supporting the financing for
the purchase of the aircraft. The A320 to be operated by Sichuan
Airlines will be in a two-class configuration, with eight first
class seats and 156 economy seats. The aircraft will be deployed on
domestic trunk routes between the airline's base of Chengdu to such
major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. It will enter into service
on 24th June on the route from Chengdu to Beijing. The aircraft
will join the existing fleet composed of 40 Airbus single-aisle
aircraft.