Airbus Doubles A320neo Capacity In “Lagardère”

Airbus officially inaugurated a second final assembly line for the A320neo family in the Jean-Luc Lagardère building in Toulouse on Monday. This follows after the building was reconfigured from A380 assembly to producing narrowbodies over three years ago. The vast facility was constructed between 2002 and 2004 for the A380 double-decker, but stood empty after the 251st and final aircraft was completed at the end of 2020. The building then stood empty, but Airbus had announced in January 2020 that it would be reconfigured for the A321neo. Only a few weeks later, the plan was postponed after the pandemic broke out. The facility, which includes a main hall for aircraft assembly and other bays for cabin fitting and engine installation, was ready for the first A321neo in early 2023. When AirInsight toured the building in February that year, the first aircraft for Pegasus Airlines was in for assembly, but work progressed at a slow pace. The building was officially inaugurated in July 2023. At the time, Airbus already mentioned the possibility of adding an identical line to “Lagardère’’ at a later stage. But a spokesperson said that an existing A320neo line in Saint Martin would be modified first, while a second one there would be closed. Now, Airbus says that after the opening of the second line in Lagardère, the two lines in Saint Martin will be used only temporarily. The new lines are capable of assembling all A320neo family variants, including the A321XLR, which was previously assembled exclusively in Hamburg. The second FAL brings the total assembly capacity for the A320neo family to 10 lines worldwide. Hamburg has four, Toulouse will have two, Mobile has two, as does Tianjin. This will allow Airbus to ramp up production to 75 aircraft per month, which it still hopes to meet by the end of 2027. CEO Guillaume Faury said last week that this depends on how many engines Pratt & Whitney will be able to deliver. Digital As described in our February 2023 feature, the Lagardère building differs from other assembly lines in that it is entirely digital/paperless, incorporates various innovations, and is centred around human workers. This translates into more automation. For example, parts are delivered by robot-carts from the warehouse to the assembly station. Fuselage parts move around the building on automated guided vehicles that were first introduced in Hamburg. Lagardère has stations 41 to 43 for assembly of the fuselage using Flextrack robots, station 40 for mating of the wings, station 37 for installation of electrical systems and the horizontal and vertical tailplane, and station 35 for testing the electrical and hydraulic system. The aircraft is standing on its own gear here for the first time. The aircraft is then rolled out of the main building to stations 25A or 25C for cabin completion. Engines are installed at stations 21A and 21C, but only after the frame has been in the paint shop first. During the official ceremony on Monday, Faury said: "Bringing this new A320 Family production line to life right here in Toulouse is a proud moment for all of us and a great achievement by our Commercial Aircraft teams. This facility provides the necessary flexibility and capacity to meet strong market demand, especially for the A321neo, and supports our production ramp-up trajectory towards 75 A320 Family aircraft a month. Operating in coordination with our assembly sites in Hamburg, Mobile and Tianjin, this advanced line is part of our commitment to deliver aircraft of the highest quality standards to our customers globally." Airbus will not disclose the production rate of the Lagardère facility.

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