Program Is On Track For First Flight Later This Year

Airbus has started final assembly of the first A320neo at its Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse (France), with the join-up of the forward and aft fuselage sections which recently arrived from St. Nazaire in France and Hamburg in Germany respectively.

Once this phase is completed, the next stage is the wing to fuselage join-up. Overall it takes about one month to complete the final assembly of an A320 Family aircraft. On average, every seven hours an A320 Family aircraft leaves one of the three A320 Family FAL’s in Toulouse, Hamburg, or Tianjin.

The A320neo first flight will take place in Q4 2014 and first delivery in Q4 2015. The A320neo “new engine option” incorporates many innovations, including latest generation engines and large Sharklet wing-tip devices, which Airbus says together deliver 15 percent in fuel savings and a reduction of 3,600 metric tons of C02 per aircraft per year. With a total of more than 2,600 orders received from 50 customers since its launch in 2010, the planemaker says the A320neo Family has captured some 60 percent of the market.

(Image provided by Airbus)

FMI: www.airbus.com