Airbus Tianjin plant delivers 100th A320 aircraft

TIANJIN - The Airbus assembly plant in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Tuesday handed over its 100th A320 aircraft to a Chinese airline operator.

The aircraft was delivered to Air China, which had previously taken seven aircraft from the Airbus (Tianjin) Final Assembly Company, since the first delivery in June 2009.

The plane, powered by International Aero Engines V2500 engines, is designed with 158 passenger seats.

It is scheduled to fly on Wednesday to Shanghai, where it will go into commercial operation on Friday.

Nigel Varley, general manager of Tianjin Airbus Delivery Center, called the delivery a "remarkable achievement" for the assembly plant at a hand-over ceremony.

"We can feel the fast development and the growing production capacity of the assembly line," said Li Gengsheng, a top official of Air China's Shanghai branch.

The A320 assembly line in Tianjin, the only final assembly line outside Europe for Airbus, began operation in September 2008 as a joint venture between Airbus and a Chinese consortium of Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corporation.