A330

Airbus is preparing to deliver the first A330 wide-body aircraft from its China plant in 2018.

Earlier this month, the company had signed a deal with Aviation Industry Corp of China and the Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone to build a cabin completion centre in Tianjin.

The centre will be built adjacent to an existing A320 final assembly plant, and designed to assemble two aircraft a month.

Work on the facility is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2017, with plans to commence deliveries from early 2018, reported Reuters.

With this new plant, China will be able to build its own aircraft to serve the rising domestic demand. The country currently imports aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.

"With this new plant, China will be able to build its own aircraft to serve the rising domestic demand."

Airbus expects the project to help it log further orders for the wide-body A330, and strengthen its presence in the region.

The Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone said that facilities for cabin decoration, painting, and flight testing of the A330 series are planned to be built in the next ten years.

Airbus has secured a series of major aircraft orders in recent months.

China Aviation Supplies Holding (CAS) has agreed to buy 45 A330 family aircraft worth $11bn, with an option for 30 additional A330 airliners.

Spring Airlines unveiled plans to purchase 21 Airbus A320 aircraft in a CNY12.45bn ($2.04bn) deal, to serve increasing international and domestic air travel demand.

Image: An Airbus A330 aircraft. Photo: courtesy of Herve Gousse / Airbus SAS.