Greeted With A Parade Through The City To The New Manufacturing Plant

The first A320 aircraft components have arrived at Airbus' newly built U.S. assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama. The parts were shipped by DHL Industrial Projects from the Hamburg Finkenwerder Airbus plant in Germany.

Since early June 2015, large components of A320 family as well as 1,000 sea freight containers and additional air freight shipments, also including hazardous goods, have crossed the Atlantic, arriving into port on June 17.

“In order to successfully transport highly sensitive cargo, especially across great distances, it is critical to have a solutions-driven team of experts in place,” said Brian Lindholm, global head of business development, DHL Global Forwarding Industrial Projects. “Our Industrial Projects team created a plan, developed a concept and helped Airbus transport their aircraft components efficiently, effectively, and with no issues.”

The five different aircraft components with a maximum weight of thirty metric tons per section were transported on board a chartered ship using special sea transport frames and secured on roll trailers with twist locks. After arriving at the Port of Mobile and clearing Customs, the aircraft components were then loaded onto heavy-duty trailers with special cranes which were transported a few miles to the new Airbus U.S. assembly plant in Mobile on Sunday.

The online news site al.com reports that the the procession from the port to the plant resembled a Mardi Gras parade. The event was attended by Airbus officials and local dignitaries. People lined the streets to watch the airplane parts travel to the factory, which will not officially open until sometime in September.

(Images provided by DHL)

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.dpdhl.de