The site of Airbus’ new final assembly facility for the A380 in Toulouse was inaugurated by the President of France, Jacques Chirac on 16 July. The ceremony, hosted by Airbus President and CEO Noël Forgeard, was attended by French Transport Minister Gilles de Robien, eminent local and government officials as well as distinguished guests from Airbus’ airline customers, shareholders and key suppliers. Jacques Chirac unveiled a commemorative plaque to mark the historic occasion.
The new 50 hectare (120 acre) facility will house the giant final assembly hall and static test hall for the all-new A380 superjumbo. The site is part of the 220 hectare (540 acre) Aeroconstellation industrial complex, which will be linked to Blagnac airport by two new taxiways. Located next to Airbus’ headquarters and its Toulouse final assembly lines, the site provides a tailor-made solution for the A380 and is ideally located to take full advantage of Toulouse’s competence and expertise in assembling and putting a new aircraft into the sky. Work began in January 2002 and will be completed by the end of 2003.
Throughout Europe, the Airbus sites are getting ready for the A380, from Broughton, UK, to Puerto Real, Spain, or Nantes, France. In Hamburg, Germany, construction of the A380 major component assembly hall began in March 2002. The hall will be 350 metres long, 120 metres wide and 26 metres high (1,150 x 390 x 85 feet). It will house the structural assembly of the forward and aft fuselage sections of the new A380 as well as the equipping of all its flight essential systems and will be completed by early 2003, in time for the first A380 major component assembly for delivery to Toulouse.
By 2004, the 23 overhead cranes of the Toulouse final assembly line will be operational and Airbus will start producing the world’s largest passenger aircraft.
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Long way off till it rolls out,but I can’t wait!
By: KabirT - 18th July 2002 at 13:23
RE: A380 Assembly Facility In TOU Inaugurated By French President
TOU building will be smaller than Everett….it was here in the papers today. And as GD1 said as it is home to 3 widebodies, so i guess it had to be bigger.
By: greekdude1 - 18th July 2002 at 03:55
RE: A380 Assembly Facility In TOU Inaugurated By French President
Andrew, the largest building in the world, volume-wise, is indeed the Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. The 747, 767, and 777 final assembly lines are there, only. Not the narrowbody 737 and 757 as you mentioned. Their final assembly takes place just down the road, in Renton, Washington. As far as, whether this new Airbus building will be bigger than the one in Everett, that’s a good question. If it will only be used for the A380, I’d almost have to say no, because the Everett factory is home to 3 widebodies. If they move the A340/A330 final assemblies to that one also, then perhaps. However, is there any indication that it will happen? It doesn’t seem so from this particular news clip.
GD1
By: andrewm - 17th July 2002 at 18:12
RE: A380 Assembly Facility In TOU Inaugurated By French President
Does this mean Airbus steal the largest builidng in the world from Boeing in Seattle as they currently hold that record for 747 (757 and 737 also??) plant facility
By: Benair316P - 17th July 2002 at 17:17
RE: A380 Assembly Facility In TOU Inaugurated By French President
Yeh Cheers Saab!
I’d sure love to get down to the ‘roll-out’, That would be an experience…possibly as good, if not better than the B747 role-out.
Regards
Ben
By: KabirT - 17th July 2002 at 11:27
RE: A380 Assembly Facility In TOU Inaugurated By French President
thanx for the news Saab…
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July 17, 2002 at 7:56 am