Europe’s Airbus opens new assembly line for small jets in A380’s shadow

Europe’s Airbus opened a new assembly line for its A321neo passenger jet in Toulouse, southwest France, on Monday, giving a new lease of life to the disused hangar where the decrepit A380 superjumbo was built as it receives a record order for smaller medium hauls. Planes.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire toured the partially automated line inside Jean-Luc Lagardère’s factory, which Airbus says will create 700 jobs by 2026, or about half of the full-time total when the world’s largest plane was built there.

The plant shift highlights a shift in industry interest from its biggest, boldest creations like the double-deck A380 to powerful single-aisle designs, which are enjoying a second wind due to increased range and growing demand.

The A321neo is the largest version of the A320 series of aircraft, which was re-launched with new engines in 2010 just in time for a boom in demand due in part to lower interest rates.

It is the eighth European assembly line of the A320 family, with previously announced expansion plans in the US and China set to bring the total number of global aircraft to 10. The first aircraft is scheduled for completion in late 2023 for delivery next year.

Its opening comes as competition between Airbus and arch-rival Boeing turns toward production, with both companies strategizing to deliver their bulging order books in the most efficient way possible, after months of chronic disruption.

The new line is located along the edge of one of the world’s second-largest buildings in terms of usable area, along with a row of shops where robot collectors will pick out parts and tools for workers. Other bots will be deployed to join the aircraft sections.

The new line is part of a reorganization that Airbus says will help it bring total production of the A320 family to 75 per month in 2026 from about 45 now. Some suppliers say the target is ambitious.

In a game of industrial musical chairs designed to offset the investment in the cavernous factory, the adjacent bay allows space for the existing A320 family production line in Toulouse to be relocated from its current home, where the Concorde is built.

Boeing is also reallocating space from large aircraft to smaller aircraft.

However, the specter of the A380 hasn’t completely subsided.

Reuters reported on Friday that a gated area in the rest of the plant is being pressed back into service for an 18-month program of inspections and repairs for the A380 after cracks were discovered in the wing fins.