[Global Times-Global Network Report Reporter Fan Wei] On October 22, 2025, Airbus launched its second A320 series aircraft assembly line in Tianjin, China. It is understood that the new facility is expected to be fully put into operation in early 2026. The expansion of Tianjin's industrial facilities reflects Airbus's confidence in the booming China aviation market and the strong and solid China supply chain. Airbus predicts that in the next 20 years, the demand for aircraft in the China market will reach 9500, accounting for about 20% of the global market demand. While optimistic about the China market, Airbus is also facing market challenges brought by the C919 passenger aircraft independently developed by China. In response to relevant questions on October 22, Airbus CEO Furi said that it is a fact that the C919 has entered the market. Airbus respects every competitor and will actively respond to competition.

The domestic large aircraft C919 celebrated the two-year anniversary of commercial operations in May this year.According to China Transportation News Network previous news, in the past two years, the new route of C919 continues to be "new".National Airlines, East Airlines, Southern Airlines has a total of 18 C919 aircraft in commercial operations, flying more than 20 commercial routes, and the route network covers 16 cities in China.

"Obviously, Airbus is facing the competitive pressure brought by the C919. As Americans often say, 'The market has ushered in a new player', the emergence of COMAC C919 means that there is a new competitor in the Chinese market." Fu Li told the Global Times and other media that Airbus respects every competitor, and Airbus will respond to the competition with a positive attitude, just like when competing with Boeing, always focusing on customers.

"We pay more attention to customer needs than simply to competitors. We will pay attention to the dynamics of competitors, but the core is to do our best to serve customers. We believe that the final market choice is in the hands of customers, so we must focus on meeting customer needs." Fu Li believes that the opening of the second assembly line in Tianjin is just a signal that Airbus is committed to optimizing the production system and improving product quality, and at the same time further improving the overall production level through healthy competition among different facilities, such as mutual reference and benchmarking. "It is worth mentioning that Tianjin facilities have reached the industry benchmark level in many aspects, which has also provided assistance for the optimization of the global production system."

In addition to competition, Airbus is also working closely with Chinese aviation manufacturing companies.

"Airbus's latest aircraft is the A220 series, and Aviation Industry Corporation of China is an important partner of Airbus in this aircraft project." Fu Li said that Aviation Industry Corporation of China is responsible for the manufacture of part of the fuselage, which is undoubtedly one of the core components of the aircraft and is crucial to the success of the aircraft. This cooperation fully reflects the maturity and development of China's civil aviation industry. In addition, Aviation Industry Corporation of China also participated in the Airbus A350 wide-body aircraft project.

¡°Every time I come to Beijing, I will take the time to meet with the leadership of the China Aviation Industry Group, this exchange between Airbus and China Aviation Industry Group began in 1998, the two sides have established a long-term and stable cooperation relationship, now the scope of cooperation has been extremely broad, covering multiple project areas, multiple business levels, the number and scale of cooperation projects are constantly expanding.¡±

At the same time, Fuji also said that he hoped that when Airbus' new-generation aircraft projects were launched, many Chinese partners already had enough maturity to compete with suppliers in Europe and the United States, from the perspective of past cooperation, Chinese suppliers have received important orders in several model projects, so this possibility is very large.

¡°This is the basic logic for Airbus to choose suppliers, and whether Chinese suppliers can be selected depends on their preparedness. We will openly and transparently inform suppliers of our core needs to help them increase competitiveness and compete for more orders. Ideally, diversification of suppliers will not only increase competitiveness and resilience, but also reduce the impact of geopolitical risks.¡±

Fury believes that with the increase in production capacity, Airbus will build a better ecosystem in China and will create more high-quality jobs in China, which are highly professional and technologically demanding, which will attract more partners and suppliers to participate in the aviation industry, and with Airbus China¡¯s production capacity and Airbus¡¯ global production capacity, it is expected that by 2027, the monthly capacity of the A320 series aircraft will reach 75, the entire supply chain will further expand, and employment in various fields will increase.

¡°Today, Airbus has become an important player in the development of China¡¯s aviation industry, and we are proud of it.¡±