Airbus delivers 800th A320 assembled in China

Airbus on Wednesday delivered its 800th A320 Family aircraft assembled in China, underscoring the European planemaker's long-term manufacturing presence in the country.

The aircraft, an A321neo, was handed over to Air China after being assembled at Airbus's final assembly line in Tianjin, the company said in a statement.

"This milestone demonstrates Airbus's commitment to deepening strategic partnerships in China," said George Xu, Airbus executive vice-president and chief executive of Airbus China. He added that Airbus teams in China will continue to support the company's plan to ramp up global A320 Family production to 75 aircraft per month by 2027.

The Tianjin FAL, inaugurated in 2008, was Airbus's first commercial aircraft production line outside Europe and has been operating for more than 17 years, becoming a flagship project of Sino-European industrial cooperation.

Airbus opened a second A320 Family final assembly line in Tianjin in October, expanding its global assembly network to 10 sites, including two facilities in China, four in Germany, two in France and two in the United States.

The A320 Family is the world's best-selling single-aisle aircraft, with more than 19,000 orders from more than 300 customers worldwide, Airbus said.