A320 aircraft

South Korean aviation parts and equipment maker Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) has won a $1.2bn contract to supply wing parts to Airbus.

The contract involves production of wing bottom panels for Airbus’s A320 passenger jets manufactured from 2014 to 2025.

KAI said that it will supply the components for 500 A320s to be built each year and if the aircraft maker extends the production of A320s until 2030, the contract value will rise to about $1.7bn.

The South Korean company previously secured a $600m wing top panel production contract for the A320 from Airbus last year and also received orders to supply wing parts for the Airbus A350 and Boeing’s B787 aircraft.

KIA is aiming to secure orders worth KRW5.4 trillion ($4.8bn) this year, of which about 65% or KRW3.5 trillion is expected from the civilian aerospace sector.

The South Korean company reported that in 2011, sales of parts for civilian aircraft reached KRW859bn ($761m), up nine-fold from KRW98.3bn ($87m) in 2000, according to Yonhap News.

The single aisle A320 aircraft features light weight composites, an optimised wing, a centralised fault display for easier troubleshooting and lower maintenance costs, and fly-by-wire flight controls.

The A320 is equipped with new Sharklets large wingtip devices, which are designed to improve the eco-efficiency and payload-range performance of the aircraft and are expected to deliver 3.5% reduced fuel burn resulting in reduction in CO2 emissions of around 700t per aircraft.

Airbus has received over 8,300 aircraft orders and has delivered 5,000 to about 340 customers and operators worldwide.

 

Image: KAI will produce wing bottom panels for the Airbus’s A320 passenger jets manufactured from 2014 to 2025. Photo: Airbus