Consortium Repurposes Shuttered A380 Facility

Airbus has christened its new A320-family Final Assembly Line (FAL) in the south-central French city of Toulouse.

The facility’s opening ceremony was attended by hundreds of the plane-maker’s employees and representatives of the French government, to include: Minister of Economy & Finance Bruno Le Maire, Transport Minister Clément Beaune, Minister of State for Industry Roland Lescure, and Minister of State for Territorial Collectivities and Rural Affairs Dominique Faure.

Addressing the august assembly, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury set forth: “The inauguration of this new A321-capable final assembly line in Toulouse represents another milestone in the ongoing modernization of our global industrial system. This FAL will contribute to the ongoing production rate ramp-up to 75 A320-family aircraft per month in 2026, while meeting the increased demand for A321s which currently represents around sixty-percent of the total A320-family backlog.”

Mr. Faury continued: “We’re pleased to see this new facility join our worldwide network of final assembly sites which will comprise four FALs in Hamburg, Germany; two in Toulouse, France; two in Mobile, Alabama, United States; and two in Tianjin, China—all them capable of assembling the A321.”

A number of innovations feature prominently in Airbus’s new Toulouse A320-family final assembly line, the overarching purposes of which are to maximize product quality, streamline manufacturing efficiency, and establish heightened standards for employee health and safety and global sustainability. Subject innovations include digital means—e.g. tablets and smartphones—of production control, automated logistics for parts distribution, and robotic fuselage section joining.

Occupying the former A380 Jean-Luc Lagardère assembly building, the new A320-family FAL commenced initial operations in late 2022 with the delivery of the first fuselage sections. The first aircraft fully assembled in the facility—an A321—is slated to roll-out of such by the end of 2023.

Airbus intends to see production at its Toulouse A320-family FAL progressively ramp up over the next two-years. The consortium projects the facility will ultimately employ some seven-hundred workers.

FMI: www.airbus.com