An assembly line for the A321XLR will be launched in Toulouse in mid-2022. - Dreamstime / AIRBUS

For months, the Airbus site in Hamburg had struggled to keep up with the growing demand for A321. Therefore, the creation of a new assembly in Toulouse had been on hold for months to increase production rates. The management of the European aircraft manufacturer has just given the green light.

It will see the light of day by mid-2022 in the Jean-Luc Lagardère factory, the current assembly plant for the A380, production of which will stop in 2021. This news will be "equipped with latest digital technologies, as part of a modernization of the A320 production system in Toulouse. These new facilities will offer greater flexibility for the production of the A321, while maintaining a stable level of the overall industrial capacity of the single-aisle aircraft in Toulouse, "said Airbus in a press release.

Over 500 jobs at stake

The Pink City had the advantage of having a site available quickly, but also of the workforce since the redeployment of employees of the A380 chain could be done there. This new assembly line is expected to employ more than 500 people.

This decision was welcomed by the aircraft manufacturer's unions. The CFE-CGC sees in "the allocation of this new assembly line of the A321 the assurance of the sustainability of the Toulouse industrial site and the recognition of the capacity and competitiveness of the Jean-Luc Lagardère site as well as the recognition of the skills of employees to meet this new challenge ”. The CFTC for its part is therefore pleased to be able to "diversify the type of aircraft we manufacture and reindustrialize the Lagardère site".

Today, the A321 represents 40% of the order book for the A320 single-aisle family, which totals 7,100 aircraft sold to 110 customers. Only one final assembly line exists in Europe, in Hamburg. Another is based in Mobile, in the United States.

In 2019, Airbus' order book was 7,482 aircraft.

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