Aviation and aerospace industry develops a new pattern as projects like Airbus A320, helicopters project of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and new-generation launch vehicles settled down

Since over 50 supporting projects such as Goodrich Aerospace settled down in Tianjin in recent years, the city has developed an industrial chain covering up- and downstream from superjumbo assembly line, engine maintenance to aerospace exhibition, with focus on airbus final assembly line.

AVIC’s helicopters project, as another focus of the industrial chain, has integrated Chinese main R&D and production. It strives to cultivate a Chinese series civil helicopters final assembly line with capacities from R&D to customized modification services.

Meanwhile, the projects such as the new generation launch vehicles industrialization base, super-large communication satellites, super-large spacecrafts (space stations) process smoothly in Binhai New Area. The aviation and aerospace industry gradually formed a pattern including superjumbo, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicles, large launch vehicles, direct broadcast satellites and space stations.

Tianjin final assembly line of Airbus A320 was put into operation since 2008. By the end of 2015, it had assembled over 250 aircrafts. Moreover, the final assembly line’s second phase is in full swing. The second phase is planned from 2016 to 2025. During the second phase’s cooperation, Airbus will push Tianjin into its center in Asia.

In addition, Airbus plans to build a delivery center for Airbus A330. It’s another important cooperation project reached by Tianjin and Airbus, following the A320 final assembly line and its delivery center that had been established in the city.

The new delivery center, which is expected to begin in August 2017, will locate next to A320’s assembly line. It will be responsible for plane reception, passenger cabin installation, plane painting, engine trial and flight testing.

AVIC’s Tianjin helicopter industrial base is located in Tianjin Airport Economic Area. The base is planned to have a building area of 273,000 sq m to be built in two phases, and the first phase began in 2009.

By 2017, the base’s helicopter output will be over 300 per year. Focusing on civil helicopters, the base will build an integrated industrial chain covering helicopter products R&D, assembly, marketing, customers supporting and navigation operation, to be Chinese helicopter industry’s core base with international competitiveness. As one of Chinese key aviation industries, the helicopter industry will be Tianjin’s iconic hi-tech industry.

Aerospace Shenzhou Aerial Vehicle Ltd, with a registered capital of 100 million CNY, was jointly invested by China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, China Aerospace Investment Holdings Ltd, Poly Technologies Inc and Tianjin Hi-tech Holding Group Co Ltd. It is engaged in the R&D, manufacturing and marketing of unmanned aerial vehicles and related products.

Located in Binhai New Area, the industrial base of Aerospace Shenzhou Aerial Vehicle Ltd plans to have two construction phases. The first phase focuses on the construction for unmanned aerial vehicles’ production, including assembly buildings, workshops, comprehensive office building and testing runways. The buildings for scientific research will be built at the second phase. The project goes smoothly, and its first phase was already completed and in use.

To date, the base is able to produce the structures for large-sized unmanned aerial vehicles with wings extending about 20 meters. Its annual output is about 40 1,000-kilogram unmanned aerial vehicles.

China’s new generation launch vehicles base in Tianjin was built by the First Research Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation with an investment of 4.5 billion CNY. It was settled in Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area on Sep 6, 2007, and the first phase of the new generation launch vehicles’ industrialization base had finished and put into operation in 2013 after six years’ construction.

The super-large spacecrafts project began construction in Tianjin. The project’s space station assembly and testing center has a total building area about 100,000 sq m, including functional sections such as assembly testing, thermodynamic experiments.