Airbus first China-assembled aircraft took to the skies recently with the first flight of an A320 in the skies over Tianjin. The 180-seat aircraft, the first to be built outside of Europe, is the first of what is expected to be more than 700 jets to be assembled by the Airbus-Chinese partnership which includes the Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corporation.

Under the arrangement the aircraft are built to pre-assembly stage at Hamburg and then shipped in kit form to China for final assemble. The Tianjin-based plant expects to deliver 11 A319/A320 planes this year and will ramp up production to four aircraft a month by 2011. The first aircraft will be operated by Sichuan Airlines.