The new A320-family final assembly line (FAL), with A321 capabilities, was inaugurated by Airbus in Toulouse, in a ceremony attended by several French Ministers and hundreds of Airbus employees.
This new facility marks the Group’s 10th A320-family FAL to open, following the news that its FAL in Tianjin, China, would commission its first A321 back in April 2023. The Toulouse facility now joins Tianjin, and Airbus’s two other A320-family FALs in Hamburg and Mobile, USA, with A321 capabilities.
The FAL in Toulouse will contribute to the ongoing production rate ramp-up to 75 A320-family aircraft per month in 2026. Airbus’s CEO Guillaume Faury commented that: “The inauguration of this new A321-capable final assembly line in Toulouse represents another milestone in the ongoing modernisation of our global industrial system.”
“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.”
Currently, the increased demand for A321 aircraft accounts for around 60% of the total A320 family backlog. The FAL, with a variety of innovations, will aim to maximise product quality and efficiency, as well as establishing new standards for health, safety and sustainability.
The new facility, which started operations at the end of 2022, is expected to roll out its first fully assembled aircraft – an A321 – at the end of the year.
