Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has announced the closure of its Tianjin Final Assembly Line (FAL), which produces its A320 family aircraft. The Chinese facility is one of four A320 FALs and the only one in Asia - the other sites being at Toulouse Blagnac and Hamburg Finkenwerder in Europe, as well as Mobile Downtown in the US.
"Airbus China is observing Chinese government requirements for staff to work from home and is facilitating with IT equipment so employees from all locations including Tianjin do not need to travel to work where possible," said the manufacturer's statement. The company has around 500 staff working at its Chinese site.
It added: "Airbus is constantly evaluating the situation and monitoring any potential knock-on effects to production and deliveries and will try to mitigate via alternative plans where necessary."
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, all three major Chinese carriers - namely China Southern Airlines (CZ, Guangzhou), China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) and Air China (CA, Beijing Capital) - are operators of the A320 family, and are also expecting deliveries, as follows:
- China Southern - 285 operational A320 family aircraft - 116 A320-200s, ninety-nine A321-200s, thirty A320-200neo, twenty-seven A321-200neo, and thirteen A319-100s. To be delivered - two A320-200neo and fifteen A321neo(LR)s.
- Air China - 173 operational A320 family aircraft - sixty-one A321-200s, forty-four A320-200s, thirty-three A319-100s, and twenty-five A320-200neo. To be delivered - three A320-200neo and two A321-200neo.
- China Eastern - 329 operational A320 family aircraft - 180 A320-200s, seventy-seven A321-200s, thirty-seven A320-200neo, and thirty-five A319-100s. To be delivered - twelve A320-200neo.
Airbus' Chinese facility opened in 2008, becoming the first FAL outside of Europe. In addition to its A320 FAL role, Tianjin is also an A330 completion and delivery centre and a logistics centre.
