Safran supports Airbus delivery of 500th China built A320 Family aircraft to China Southern Airlines

October 29th 2020, Tianjin, China – Airbus has celebrated its 500^th A320 Family aircraft delivery from its Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, China. The aircraft, an A320neo featured with LEAP-1A engines, was handed over during a ceremony at Airbus’ Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) to China Southern Airlines, one of the largest airlines in China. Safran is honored to witness this historical moment together as one of the major suppliers of the aircraft. Safran General Delegate for China Philippe Bardol and Safran Aircraft Engines Suzhou General Manager Patrick Calero were present at the ceremony.

 

 

“500 airplanes assembled locally in a short period of 10 years is a great commitment from Airbus to China, the fastest growing aviation market worldwide,” attending the ceremony, Philippe Bardol sent his congratulations. “With a wide variety of Safran equipment onboard including nacelles, landing gear, wheels & brakes, wiring, passenger seats, galleys, oxygen systems…and LEAP-1A engines from CFM International, the 50/50 joint-venture between Safran Aircraft Engines and GE, Safran has become a major supplier to Airbus A320 family aircraft. Fulfilling our commitment to our customers in the Chinese market, we have been guaranteeing constant support over the years to our client with a dedicated on-site support team based at FALA in Tianjin.” he added.

 

 

The Safran Aircraft Engines team, which constitutes the on-site CFM unit, is made up of eight people, including technicians, quality specialists and support engineer who are getting trainings on other Airbus assembly lines. The main missions of this team are to support Airbus throughout the production and delivery cycles of the aircraft, to ensure the satisfaction of airline customers and to help partners in their daily operations. Since the set-up of Airbus A320 Family Final Assembly Line Asia (FALA) in 2008, 225 A320ceo equipped with CFM56-5B and 78 A320neo equipped with LEAP-1A have been delivered by Airbus. “With 41 aircraft delivered, China Southern Airlines is the 5th operator in terms of delivery of A320neo aircraft equipped with LEAP-1A engines”, underlined Bastien Figon, CFM Support Manager based at Airbus Tianjin.