Airbus is entering its next era and formally saying goodbye to the Airbus A380 with the inauguration of a new final assembly line in Toulouse, the HQ of Airbus.
The site where the Airbus A380 was built has been repurposed to allow for a new Airbus A320neo family of aircraft line, creating hundreds of new jobs and using space no longer needed.
Airbus announced it would end production of its A380 in February 2019. Production would eventually decrease towards the end of 2021, and since then, the facility in which the A380 was produced has remained empty, awaiting repurposing.
The new final assembly line or FAL will aid Airbus significantly as it looks towards meeting demand seen in the narrowbody market, especially for an aircraft type like the A321neo, which through new variants, can be unrivalled in the middle of the market sector.
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.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury
Airbus has been aided significantly by Boeing not moving ahead with their middle-of-the-market airliner or any new aeroplane until the 2030s. The company can now meet demand and increase overall output for the broader A320neo family.
The FAL started operations at the end of 2022 when Airbus saw the delivery of the first fuselage sections. However, it is now moving ahead with the full roll-out of the first aircraft by the end of this year. Between now and 2025, though, the plane maker will significantly ramp up operations thanks to this new FAL.
A380 is the very best aircraft in the world by a country mile.
It just ploughs through the air like a huge whale largely inconvenienced by weather conditions.
Then why is it already out of production? No one wanted it….way too expensive to operate. In contrast, the 747 was in production for over 50 years and was a huge success for Boeing, you be the judge.
With such a large number of geographically widely-spread FALs, it will be a nightmare to maintain close attention to quality control. Boeing couldn’t do it with only 2 FALs for one of their types. Hope Airbus makes a better fist of it. Some pressure though: ‘only’ 75 deliveries a month – the airlines may well be the ones doing the test-flying.