(Yicai Global) Nov. 5 -- Airbus will begin to roll the A321 off its production line in Tianjin, northern China next year as demand for the narrow-body, twin engine passenger planes surges in the country, The Paper reported yesterday, citing the Dutch aerospace firm’s chief operating officer.

The Tianjin assembly line, which already produces the A320 model, will start the necessary upgrades in July next year with the aim of delivering its first A321 plane by the end of 2022, Cheng Long said.

The assembly of A321 jets is more complicated than that of the A320, Cheng said. As a larger aircraft it has more parts and therefore it is a longer process and needs additional labor.

At present, there are only two assembly lines in Hamburg, Germany and Mobile, the US, that can produce the A321. Yet the backlog of A321 orders is equal to that of all the orders for both the A319 and A320 worldwide, Cheng said. The A321 accounts for half of all narrow-body, single-aisle plane orders yet it only makes up a quarter of China’s Airbus A320 family fleet, so the market is huge, he added.

Whether Leiden-based Airbus will decide to set up production lines for its long-range, wide-body A330 and A350 passenger jets in China as well will depend on the recovery of international air routes in Asia and the ensuing demand, Cheng said.

Editor: Kim Taylor