Safety paramount

Since becoming COO of Airbus China in Beijing in January 2013, he has devoted himself to forging a far-visioned strategy for Airbus in China, a booming civil aviation market and rising aviation industry power.

The Airbus in-service fleet for aircraft with more than 100 seats has grown from 6 percent of China's total in 1994 to 50 percent today.

"Airbus made a good decision and injected huge resources to make it real. We did the right thing, bringing not only aircraft, but also technologies and chances," said Gonzalez-Ripoll.

In July 2015, the company launched its Completion and Delivery Centre (CDC) in Tianjin for cabin and furnishings fixtures and liveries. In less than three years, Tianjin will be the third center delivering both narrow and wide-body Airbus aircraft, after its headquarters in Toulouse, France, and Seattle, in the United States.

"In the near future, China will have its own civilian aviation industry. It comes from the government's determination, political will and money." The first China-developed large passenger jet, the C919, from the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (COMAC), has entered the final assembly phase. A more ambitious plan for a twin-aisle wide-body jet is in the pipeline.

"China is on the right direction. It takes time and determination. There are no shortcuts in the aviation industry. Safety is the lifeblood of aviation and nobody can find way around it," he said. "China is making the world's skies more dynamic."