Popular Model Makes First Appearance from New Cradle
After some shuffling around its manufacturing facilities to accommodate its high-demand A321neo, Airbus has rolled out its first brand-new aircraft after a relatively short retooling period.
The A380 assembly line began changing over in late 2022, when demand for the large aircraft had been eclipsed by its more economical, narrowbody sibling the A321neo. The neo builds on the single-aisle A320, offering “unbeatable fuel efficiency” and range at the acknowledged cost of passenger capacity and luxury accommodations. The Toulouse, France facility officially began working on the A321neo line in July of 2023, making their first completed aircraft take about 4 full months to come to term. While the first aircraft has been completed, things will remain somewhat provisional as workers gain experience and comfort in working on the new model, ramping up output to hit their stride sometime in 2025.
“We are enjoying an unprecedented high demand for our winning A320neo Family and especially its A321 Long Range (LR) and Xtra Long Range (XLR) derivatives,” said Michael Schoellhorn when the decision was made to go all-in on the narrowbody model’s construction. The Airbus CEO had his finger on the pulse of the industry, knowing that carriers have by and large heavily favored the more affordable, smaller aircraft. “In order to optimize the industrial flow, we have decided to increase our global A321 production capacity and flexibility as well as to establish a next-generation Final Assembly Line in Toulouse.”
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