Airbus's Chinese joint venture delivers elevators for A350XWB

Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre (HMC) delivered the first set of elevators it has produced for the new wide-body Airbus A350 XWB on Monday. A ceremony was held in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The delivery of the elevators by HMC is an important milestone, said Rafael Gonzalez-Ripoll, Airbus China chief operating officer, adding that HMC will deliver other components it undertakes in the future. An elevator is a movable control surface in the horizontal tail plane that makes the aircraft pitch up or down to increase or reduce its flight altitude. On Nov. 26, 2007, Airbus signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Development and Reform Commission of China to formalize a commitment to allocate 5 percent of the A350 airframe to the Chinese aviation industry. The work packages being carried out by HMC are a significant part of the 5 percent. HMC is a joint venture between Airbus and several Chinese companies, including Harbin Aircraft Industry (Group) Co. Ltd (HAIC). The Chinese side holds an 80 percent stake, with HAIC taking 50 percent. Airbus has 20 percent. HMC was put into production in 2009. It mainly produces components for Airbus A320 series and A350XWB.