VietNamNet Bridge – On Wednesday, Airbus announced its first production package of aircraft components in Vietnam, through Nikkiso Vietnam.



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Vietnam Airlines will become the first airline in Asia to use the entirely new A350 XWB aircraft, after receiving the first delivery in mid-2015.

 

Accordingly, Nikkiso Vietnam, a Japanese firm based in the Thang Long 2 Industrial Park in Hanoi, will manufacture composite spars of aircraft wings and the shields of sharklet devices.

A sharklet is a wingtip device that helps save fuel and is an option on the A320 planes. With over 4,280 A320 aircraft being delivered to customers worldwide, this production package is likely to ensure long-term work for Nikkiso Vietnam.

This firm currently has 400 Vietnamese workers and 50 of them will participate in aircraft component manufacturing.

As a composite device manufacturer, the Japanese firm is a subcontractor for a major supplier of Airbus in Korea. After receiving components from Vietnam and other places, the Korean company will assemble the devices into complete sharklets for Airbus.

Airbus now has 15 major suppliers of aircraft parts and a few hundred small suppliers worldwide. This is the first time an important technical component of an aircraft is to be manufactured in Vietnam.

Mr. Jean-Francois Laval, Vice Executive President of Airbus in Asia, said Vietnam's aviation market is growing rapidly. The production cost in Vietnam is quite attractive. At the same time, Airbus has also received active support from the government of Vietnam.

Airbus currently has an aeronautical engineer training program in Hanoi.

According to Laval, the project in Vietnam will start in August. Airbus will participate in supervision to ensure quality and factory certification to meet the stringent standards of the company in the fields of supply, processing and quality control.

Laval also said that Vietnam Airlines will become the first airline in Asia to use the entirely new A350 XWB aircraft, after receiving the first delivery in mid-2015.

In total, Vietnam Airlines will have 14 A350-900s in its fleet, including 10 aircraft ordered directly from Airbus and 4 leased planes. This air carrier will use the A350 fleet for long haul flights.

VnEconomy/VNE