Airbus has inaugurated its new A320 Family final assembly line (FAL) in Toulouse. This is to support the continued demand for the A320 family by airlines and lessors.
This was done, in a ceremony attended by French Minister of Economy & Finance Bruno Le Maire, French Transport Minister Clément Beaune, Minister of State for Industry Roland Lescure, and Minister of State for Territorial Collectivities and Rural Affairs Dominique Faure, as well as hundreds of Airbus employees.
The new A320 Final assembly line is installed in the former A380 “Jean-Luc Lagardère” assembly building.
This FAL started initial operations at the end of 2022 with the delivery of the first fuselage sections. The roll-out of the first aircraft fully assembled in this facility – an A321 – is expected to occur by the year’s end.
The industrial site will progressively ramp up operations between now and 2025, directly employing around 700 workers.
Various innovations feature prominently in this latest A320 Family final assembly line, with the aim of maximising product quality and efficiency and establish new standards for health, safety and sustainability. These innovations include digital production control using tablets and smartphones to reduce paper consumption, automated logistics for parts distribution and lightweight robots for joining sections.
In Quotes
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury at the ceremony commented:
“The inauguration of this new A321-capable final assembly line in Toulouse represents another milestone in the ongoing modernisation 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 60 percent of the total A320 Family backlog,”
“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, United States; and two in Tianjin, China, all them capable of assembling the A321.”
Aggressive Growth
After a few years of shrinkage due to various reasons that impacted the supply chain, as well as a dip in orders, Airbus appears to be stepping up its build rate to hit a target of 75 Airbus A320 family aircraft produced a month by the end of 2025.
This is from a low of 45 during 2021, scaling upward to 63 in 2023.
That’s a big industrial effort, requiring its supply chain in order, as well as having the space to construct the aircraft – with 10 Final Assembly Lines to support this.
And who knows – depending on the demand, we might see more.
Airbus has shown in the past it can plonk an assembly line where it needs it – and has done in Asia, the Americas as well as in Europe.
Depending on the need – and the growth – they may need another in the future.
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