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Airbus delivers its 700th A320 Family aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line in North China's Tianjin municipality on July 8, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Airbus China

Airbus on Monday delivered its 700th A320 Family aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line (FALA) in North China's Tianjin municipality, highlighting the importance of the Chinese aviation supply chain in terms of the global market. 

The aircraft, an A320neo, was handed over to Chengdu Airlines.

The aircraft is powered by CFM Leap-1A engines and features 180 comfortable Economy class seats. As of the end of June 2024, Chengdu Airlines was flying an Airbus fleet of 52 A320 Family aircraft.

"The delivery underscores the unwavering commitment of our team in China to support Airbus' global A320 Family ramp up plan," said George Xu, Airbus Executive Vice President and Airbus China CEO. 

He said Airbus remains dedicated to strengthening strategic collaboration in China, reinforcing our long-term commitment to this thriving market.

Global airlines manufactures and suppliers have highlighted that China remains an important strategic partner and its supply chain is integral to the world aviation industry, adding that the supply chain in China continues to show great industrial resilience and competitiveness.

In January this year, Airbus started operations at the Airbus Lifecycle Services Center in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, an example of aviation cooperation between China and France.

In June last year, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines, two flagship Chinese carriers, selected to equip a total of 196 new A320neo of their fleets with Thales market-leading avionics solutions. 

In the helicopter domain, Thales has also partnered with Simaero to deliver China's first H225 level D Full Flight Simulator to China Sky-Wings training center in Shanghai, to improve overall safety of Chinese helicopter pilots. 

The new projects are a fitting testament to the extensive cooperation in the field of civil aviation between France and China, the company said.

Inaugurated in 2008, the FALA in Tianjin has been the first Airbus production line outside Europe. The FALA has been successfully operating for more than 15 years now, and has become a role model of successful Sino-European cooperation. 

In September 2023, the expansion of Airbus Tianjin broke ground, which will contribute to the company's overall A320 Family ramp-up plan, supported by its - then - global production network of ten Final Assembly Lines - two in Tianjin (China), two in Toulouse (France), two in Mobile (US) and four in Hamburg (Germany).

The A320 Family is the world's most popular single aisle aircraft having won over 18,500 orders from over 300 customers in all markets. 

Global Times