Tue, May 19, 2009
Four-Hour Maiden Flight Goes Well
The first A320 aircraft assembled
outside Europe in the Airbus Final Assembly Line China (FALC)
successfully completed its first flight today. The aircraft took
off from Tianjin International Airport at 10:42 am and landed at
14:56. The four hour and fourteen minute test flight was jointly
captained by Harry Nelson, Vice President Production Flight Tests
and by Experimental Test Pilot Philippe Pellerin. The other crew
members were Senior Vice President Flight & Integration Tests
Fernando Alonso and Zidan Ren, the first Chinese Flight Test
Engineer trained by Airbus as well as Cabin Engineer Eric
Garcia
“The flight was a complete success thanks to excellent
teamwork,” said Fernando Alonso, Senior Vice President Flight
& Integration Tests, Airbus. "I was delighted to participate in
this historic flight. This A320 assembled in China unquestionably
demonstrated the same quality and performance as those assembled
and delivered in Hamburg or Toulouse."
"I would like to congratulate and sincerely thank all those in
China and in Europe who, through their dedication and hard work,
have made the first Airbus Final Assembly Line outside of Europe a
reality," says Laurence Barron, President of Airbus China. "Our
commitment is to provide the very best aircraft and services to our
customers and operators in China, while applying the same rules,
procedures and quality standards as for any other Airbus aircraft
produced in Europe. It highlights our commitment to the development
of a long-term strategic partnership with the Chinese aviation
industry."
This first aircraft will be delivered to Dragon Aviation Leasing in
June from the Airbus Delivery Centre in Tianjin and will be
operated by Sichuan Airlines. Chinese customers have ordered more
than 700 aircraft from Airbus, the majority of which are from the
A320 Family. Eleven A319/A320 (file photo, below) aircraft are
scheduled for delivery in Tianjin in 2009 and the FALC production
rate will be ramped up to four aircraft per month by the end of
2011.
The A320 FALC is a joint-venture between Airbus and a Chinese
consortium comprising Tianjin Free Trade Zone (TJFTZ) and China
Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC). Airbus China holds 51 per
cent of the shares, while the Chinese Consortium holds 49 per cent.
The FALC in Tianjin is based on the latest state-of-the-art Airbus
single-aisle Final Assembly Line in Hamburg, Germany. FALC started
work in August 2008.
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