African Pilot

Airbus A321 production in Toulouse

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Following its strategy to keep its overall production system at the leading edge of technology and to increase industrial capacity and flexibilit­y, Airbus has decided to create new A321 production capabiliti­es at its site in Toulouse, France.

By mid-2022 the current A380 Lagardère facility in Toulouse will accommodat­e a digitally enabled A321 line as a step to modernise the A320 production system in Toulouse. The new facilities will provide more flexibilit­y for A321 production, whilst keeping the overall single aisle industrial capacity in Toulouse flat.

“We are enjoying an unpreceden­ted high demand for our winning A320neo Family and especially its A321 Long Range (LR) and Xtra Long Range (XLR) derivative­s,” said Michael Schoellhor­n, Airbus

Chief Operating Officer. “In order to optimise the industrial flow, we have decided to increase our global A321 production capacity and flexibilit­y as well as to establish a next generation Final Assembly Line in Toulouse.” Currently, the only European Final Assembly Line to assemble A321s is at Airbus’ Hamburg site. In addition, the A321 is also being assembled and delivered from Mobile, Alabama, USA. Toulouse was selected for several reasons such as: overall competitiv­eness, time to market, investment cost, available floor space and resources. The decision has been communicat­ed to Airbus’ social partners.

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