European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Monday delivered its 700th A320 family aircraft assembled at its A320 Family Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

The aircraft, an A320neo, featuring 180 comfortable economy class seats, was handed over to Chengdu Airlines, which now has 50 Airbus aircraft, according to its CEO, Wang Shushi.

"This figure highlights the long-standing and in-depth cooperation between Airbus and the Chinese aviation industry," said George Xu, Airbus executive vice president and Airbus China CEO, adding that "Airbus remains dedicated to strengthening strategic collaboration with China and fulfilling our long-term commitment to this thriving market." 

"It means that at least every third Airbus A320 aircraft in China comes from Airbus Tianjin," said Christoph Schrempp, general manager of the Airbus Tianjin Delivery Center. "It underlines the strong commitment of Airbus to China, the Chinese aviation market and its continuous development."

Data from Flight Master, a Chinese intelligent air-travel platform, shows that in the first half of 2024, China's civil aviation passenger transport handled about 2.7 million flights, up 14.8 percent year on year.

According to China's five-year development plan for the civil aviation industry, by 2025, its passenger transportation volume is expected to reach 930 million passengers, while the cargo and mail transport volume is expected to reach 9.5 million tonnes.

"China is Airbus' largest single-country market globally," said Xu, adding that the number of aircraft delivered by the company to Chinese customers annually accounts for about 20 percent of its total global deliveries. Airbus has seen its market share in China climb from about 20 percent in 2008 to more than 50 percent so far this year.

Inaugurated in 2008, the FALA in Tianjin is the first Airbus production line established outside Europe. The FALA has been operating for over 15 years and has become a model of successful China-Europe cooperation.

The Airbus Tianjin expansion project, which broke ground in September 2023, is expected to contribute to the company's overall A320 family ramp-up plan, supported by its global production network of 10 final assembly lines. The production network will include two final assembly lines in Tianjin (one under construction) and two in Toulouse, France.

According to the company's market forecast, China's average annual growth in aviation transportation will reach 5.3 percent in the next 20 years, higher than the global average of 3.6 percent. More than 40,000 new aircraft will be needed worldwide by 2042, of which more than 9,000 are estimated to be delivered to China.

"Airbus remains dedicated to strengthening strategic collaboration with China and fulfilling our long-term commitment to this thriving market," Xu said, adding that "Airbus is willing to continue to work hand in hand with its Chinese partners to contribute to the high-quality development of China's civil aviation, and to build a bridge for exchanges and cooperation between China and Europe." 

(With input from Xinhua)