Airbus to build first A321neo line at Toulouse in place of A380 facility

Airbus is to increase its A321 production capability, by converting its A380 facilities in Toulouse in order to accommodate a digitally-enabled A321 final assembly line. It will introduce A321 production to Toulouse for the first time – Airbus’s largest single-aisle variant is currently built in Hamburg Finkenwerder and Mobile. The airframer says the change – to be in place by mid-2022 – will provide “more flexibility” for A321 production, although it adds that overall single-aisle industrial capacity at Toulouse will remain “flat”. Airbus’s A321neo has proven particularly popular, accounting for 3,255 orders – the equivalent of 45% of all orders for the re-engined A320neo family. But this has put pressure on the industrial system at Airbus owing to the introduction of new variants of the A321neo. <br/>