China's Airbus A320 final assembly line at Tianjin is due to be officially opened today (28 September), as production of the first locally built airframe gathers momentum.

The plant, in which Airbus has a 51% stake with the remainder being held by local investors, began assembling its first A320 on 18 August (pictured), with subassemblies supplied from Europe via Hamburg.

This aircraft is due to be delivered in June next year to Sichuan Airlines. Output is set to reach four aircraft a month by 2011, and the airport is to add a second runway by May 2009 to enable it to handle test flights.