CBI member, Airbus has announced that it has opened an innovation centre in south China’s Shenzhen to develop new technologies that will improve the cabin experience of Airbus aircraft for passengers as well as improve the manufacturing process for Airbus and partners.
China Direct subscribers will remember that in December, Airbus announced that it would be partnering with China mobile to upgrade in-flight WIFI services across the Airbus fleet. Shenzhen was chosen as the location for Airbus’ innovation centre because of the city’s rapidly developing innovation advantages, including access to local partners, such as China Mobile and Huawei, talent and local government support for foreign R&D initiatives.
Tom Enders, Airbus CEO said: “Shenzhen is the Silicon Valley of China, with many high-tech companies as well as promising partners […] Shenzhen is famous for its speed, which is certainly good for [Airbus]. We need to be more open to innovation at a faster speed.”
Airbus has also signed an MoU with Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau to cooperate to deliver Urban Air Mobility (UAM) solutions in Shenzhen. Airbus’s UAM initiative aims to create a whole new industry from scratch to make inter-city helicopter travel accessible to the masses by designing and eventually manufacturing small electric ‘helicopter taxis’ which would open up the vertical dimensions of cities for travel.
Its an ambitious task, for an ambitious city, which is set to become central to Airbus’ China operations, as they build on the success the company is having the China market. As 2018 came to a close, 1,700 Airbus aircraft were serving in the China market, while more than 20% of all commercial aircraft manufactured by Airbus had at some point entered China’s airspace.
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