Construction on Airbus Mobile begins

Nationalism runs amok on this forum again….a thread about a new FAL in the USA degenerates into a he said/she said as to why there is not a FAL in the UK. Sigh.

I’m wondering if this factory will enable further market penetration in the USA for Airbus? I would think the fact that the airplanes “are built here” would be a major sales pitch for Airbus to the big 3 or 4 U.S. airlines, which still have majority Boeing fleets, even though the percentage of American content probably won’t change measurably.

Also, I’m wondering about the location. Airbus chose to put the factory at the old military base in MOB (closed roughly 50 years ago). No doubt they got great tax breaks and they can expect a non-union workforce in Alabama, but the site is literally on the seashore in a hurricane prone area. I would think the storm surge from even a moderate storm would flood the factory and be very costly.

All it takes is the will to do it

That was something the British excelled at a century ago…but now…sell out to the best personal option.Where there’s a will there’s a way…or the UK equivalent…no will so no way.:(

I wish that wew a joke, or even a tongue in cheek coment…sadly it’s reality and that hurts.

Why not the UK??…OK it’s to place facilities in other parts of the World, but the UK is never considered for such things so it seems.

Forget the rubbish claimed by Matt, this is why we don’t have a UK FAL;
An Airbus UK FAL was a real opportunity in the early mid nineties, BAe had the influence witin the Airbus GIE, spare cash from the sale of MG Rover, goverment backing and Airbus needed a second FAL;- but the then Chairman of BAe (Roland Smith) decided not to invest in the aircraft industry instead preferring to buy real estate via a subsidiary called Arlington. Shortly after real estate prices crashed! He resigned having subjected the UK aircraft industry to one of the worst single decision in its entire history (and also having got publically very drunk during the Franborough Airshow). The Germans got the second FAL and its made sense to build every addition FAL since outside of Europe.

It strikes me as slightly silly not to have some sort of production in each place, therefore, the belugas would never be flying empty, as they would always have something to carry.

Well I have to disagree with you there… Airbus has invested hundreds of millions into the UK over the years at Broughton? According to the Airbus website, some 100,000 people contribute to Airbus wings 😮

http://www.airbus.com/company/worldwide-presence/airbus-in-uk/

The reason we don’t have an A320 plant is simply because a) we can’t compete in terms of pay against countries like Germany, the US and China and b) it’s worth Airbus’ while investing the money in the US and China instead where they fight tooth and nail against Boeing for market share.

Why not the UK??…OK it’s to place facilities in other parts of the World, but the UK is never considered for such things so it seems.