Airbus has delivered the first A350 out of its Completion & Delivery Center in Tianjin. China Eastern Airlines took delivery of the aircraft on July 21 during a special ceremony with selected guests. The center will be used for deliveries to Chinese customers only. Another four are scheduled for later this year. First Airbus A350 delivered from Tianjin.
The C&DC was inaugurated in September 2017 and initially only completed the A330. In an extension to the contract in 2019, the A350 was added to the portfolio. An aircraft that has been fully assembled in Toulouse will fly ‘green’ and empty to Tianjin, where cabin fitting, painting, and flight testing takes place. This includes the customer acceptance flight, the last phase before the transfer of title and delivery.
However, the China Eastern-aircraft (A350-900 B-323H) seems to have been painted in her final livery already in Toulouse. She was seen with full titles when she departed Toulouse Blagnac for Tianjin in April.
The delivery of the first complete A350 from Tianjin comes shortly after two other milestones of Airbus in China. In June, it started fuselage-equipping of the A320neo-family aircraft, which until then has been done in France and Germany. In July, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation produced its 100th center fuselage section for the A220. Â
Active as a journalist since 1987, with a background in newspapers, magazines, and a regional news station, Richard has been covering commercial aviation on a freelance basis since late 2016.
Richard is contributing to AirInsight since December 2018. He also writes for Airliner World, Aviation News, Piloot & Vliegtuig, and Luchtvaartnieuws Magazine. Twitter: @rschuur_aero.
