Rafael González-Ripoll, Airbus China Chief Operating Officer (COO) (c) Airbus

Rafael González-Ripoll, Airbus China Chief Operating Officer (COO) (c) Airbus

Rafael González-Ripoll was appointed Airbus China Chief Operating Officer (COO) on 1st January 2013. In this role, he holds overall responsibility for Operations in China, including production, engineering, procurement and supply chain management. He began his professional career in 1977 with the Spanish Navy and after several positions in the shipyard business from 1980 to 1986, he joined CASA in March 1986 as Head of Safety Environment Department. In 1993 he was appointed Senior Manager and later, in 1995, he became Vice President (VP) and Head of the San Pablo plant in Sevilla, including the Final Assembly Line for Airbus military transport aircraft.

From 2000 to 2004, he held different executive positions within CASA and Airbus Spain, such as, VP Aerostructures CASA and VP Human Resources Airbus. In 2004 he moved to Airbus Central Entity in Toulouse, France, where he was responsible for areas such as Employment Organisation, and Training Competences. Later he was promoted to SVP within Human Resources.

Between 2009 and December 2012, he was SVP Centre of Excellence Empennage Aft Fuselage at Airbus in Spain, coordinating the design, production and product support activities from the three Spanish Airbus plants as well as the Stade plant in Germany. He was also responsible for coordinating the interface activities between Airbus and two joint ventures of Airbus in China: the Harbin Manufacturing Centre and the Beijing Engineering Centre.

González-Ripoll was born in Cordoba, Spain, in 1952. He graduated in Naval Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain.

Married with three children, he enjoys reading and mountain biking.