CBI member, Spirit AeroSystems joined Boeing in celebrating the delivery of the 2,000th Boeing plane to a Chinese operator on Friday, with the handover of a B737 MAX to Xiamen Airlines last Friday.
Spirit AeroSystems is the largest individual supplier to Boeing and provides parts to all the company’s commercial jet programmes. However, Spirit AeroSystems is predominantly involved with production of the Boeing 737; the company is responsible for building close to 70% of every aircraft sold in China.
The company is enjoying a significant up-turn as a result of a recent boom in the China aviation market. Spirit AeroSystems estimates that China’s need of 7,690 new commercial jets over the next 20 years will contribute $1.2 trillion to the commercial aerospace industry in the company’s home city of Wichita in the US state of Kansas.
The China market is particularly valuable to Spirit AeroSystems because around a third of all Boeing 737 sales are made to Chinese airlines. Boeing did announce, that as a result of the importance of the China market to the American aircraft manufacturer, China-bound 737s would begin to be finished in a new completion centre in Zhoushan, China as of December this year.
Spirit AeroSystems will continue production at its Wichita plant to meet demand, and export fuselages and components to Zhoushan for furnishing and painting. Spirit AeroSystems expects to export 100 fuselages per year.
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