This undated photo shows the final assembly line of the Airbus A320 in Tianjin, China. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

TIANJIN – Airbus, the European aircraft manufacturer, and its Chinese partners have signed an agreement to expand its A320 family final assembly capacity with a second line at its site in north China's Tianjin Municipality.

The deal was inked on Thursday between Airbus and Tianjin Free Trade Zone Investment Company Ltd and Aviation Industry Corporation of China, Ltd.

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The new assembly line will contribute to Airbus's goal of producing 75 A320 family aircraft per month by 2026 throughout its global production network, Airbus said.

At present, Airbus has four assembly facilities worldwide for its A320 family, located in Toulouse in France, Hamburg in Germany, Mobile in the United States, and Tianjin in China. Its Asia final assembly line in Tianjin, known as FAL Tianjin, was put into operation in 2008 and has so far assembled more than 600 A320 family aircraft.

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By the end of March 2023, the number of the Airbus fleet in service in the Chinese mainland reached more than 2,100.