Airbus has delivered the first A321neo aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line Asia (FAL Tianjin) to China’s Juneyao AirAirbus has delivered the first A321neo aircraft assembled at its Final Assembly Line Asia (FAL Tianjin) to China’s Juneyao Air in Tianjin, China. The aircraft is powered by Pratt & Whitney GTF engines and features 207 seats (eight in business and 199 in economy class). Its delivery flight is to use a 10% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend in support of the green aviation strategy in China.
George Xu, Airbus executive vice president and Airbus China CEO, said: “Since we announced the commissioning of the first A321 aircraft at FAL Tianjin last November, the relevant final assembly activities and tests went smoothly, showcasing the maturity of FAL Tianjin to quickly adapt to new products. The successful delivery of the first A321 aircraft enables Airbus to honour the popularity of the aircraft for the China market and beyond - and the consistent trust and support from our customers. Airbus continues to expand and enhance its comprehensive cooperation with China’s aviation industry, underlining its long-term commitment to China to ensure customer proximity while supporting the global commercial aircraft production ramp up.”
Airbus has four A320 Family final assembly facilities around the world: Hamburg, Germany; Toulouse, France; Tianjin, China; and Mobile, USA. With the conversion of the Tianjin facility last year, and with the newest facility about to complete its transformation in Toulouse, the global industrial system will be fully A321-capable, creating flexibility and agility to meet Airbus’ ramp up objectives and the rising market success of the A321 model.
Inaugurated in 2008, the FAL in Tianjin was the first Airbus commercial aircraft assembly line outside Europe. In the same year, the first aircraft sections arrived on site. Since its first A320 delivery in 2009, the Airbus site has delivered more than 600 aircraft over the last 14 years. The A321neo is the longest-fuselage member of Airbus’ best-selling, single-aisle A320 family, comfortably seating as many as 244 passengers, with a longest range reaching 4,700nm/8,700km.
Featuring the widest single-aisle cabin in the sky, the A320neo Family offers at least 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption and CO
2 as well as a 50% noise reduction compared to previous generation aircraft, thanks to incorporating the very latest technologies including new generation engines and sharklets. By the end of January 2023, Airbus had received over 8,600 firm orders from more than 130 customers worldwide for variants of the A320neo.