Tianjin Party Secretary Zhang Gaoli, Mayor of Tianjin, Huang Xingguo, as well as German State Secretary (Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology) Hartmut Schauerte and the President of Sichuan Airlines, Lan Xinguo were present at the ceremony attended by more than 1000 guests.
"The highly reliable and efficient Airbus aircraft are very valuable assets of aircraft leasing companies. As a China-based company, Dragon Aviation Leasing is proud to take delivery of the first Airbus aircraft assembled in China," said Li Hai, Chairman of Dragon Aviation Leasing.
"Sichuan Airlines was the first Chinese airline to introduce the A320 Family aircraft in China in 1995. Today, we are proud to become the operator of the first A320 assembled in China. We believe that the Airbus aircraft further enhances our profitability and competitiveness with low operational costs and high reliability," said Lan Xinguo, President of Sichuan Airlines.
"Our Final Assembly Line here in Tianjin and this first aircraft delivery outside Europe mark an important milestone in our strategic long-term partnership with China and the Chinese industry," said Tom Enders, Airbus President and CEO. "This FAL is state of the art, second to none in the world. And so are the aircraft manufactured here in Tianjin. I would like to thank all our partners and employees who worked very hard during the last three years to make this happen."
The Export-Import Bank of China, a strategic long term partner to Dragon Aviation Leasing, has been supporting the financing for the purchase of the aircraft. The A320 to be operated by Sichuan Airlines will be in a two-class configuration, with eight first class seats and 156 economy seats. The aircraft will be deployed on domestic trunk routes between the airline's base of Chengdu to such major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. It will enter into service on 24th June on the route from Chengdu to Beijing. The aircraft will join the existing fleet composed of 40 Airbus single-aisle aircraft.
Airbus press release 23 June 2009