2023-07-10 17:02:04
Airbus inaugurated with great fanfare on Monday a new assembly line of A320 and A321 in Blagnac, in the suburbs of Toulouse (south-west), which should allow the European aircraft manufacturer to significantly increase its production of single-aisle aircraft. . “We believe in the future of aviation“, affirmed the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Lemaire, underlining his disagreement with those who believe that “the plane is overduring the ceremony attended by several hundred guests.
The Minister in charge of Transport, Clément Beaune, also present, described as “exceptional collective success“This assembly line, installed in the huge hall where the giant of the air A380 was previously built, whose production Airbus stopped in 2021. “We are proud of Airbus“Summarized in turn the socialist president of the Occitanie Region, Carole Delga. Thanks to this new final assembly line (FAL), from which the first aircraft will come out in 2024, the European aircraft manufacturer expects to reach 75 single-aisle aircraft per month.mid-decade», compared to 45 in 2022.
Airbus catches up some of its delay
The eight current assembly lines – two in Toulouse, four in Hamburg, one in Mobile (United States) and one in Tianjin (China) – are insufficient for such a rate. Especially since nearly 60% of the aircraft to be delivered are A321s, with greater capacity and therefore more complex to produce than the A320. This new line is capable of producing both A320s and A321s, whereas the two other FALs in Toulouse can only produce A320s. In addition, Airbus delivered a total of 72 commercial aircraft in June, allowing it to catch up some of the delay on its annual objectives.
Affected by the difficulties of some of its 18,000 suppliers (raw materials, components, labor, etc.), the European industrial giant was struggling at the start of the year to reach the production rate necessary to manufacture the 720 devices promised in 2023. But the trend has changed significantly in recent months. Already in May, Airbus had delivered 63 aircraft, following 54 in April, when it had only managed to release 127 aircraft in total in the first quarter.
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