Airbus Achieves a Global First With Its Hot A320
The popular commercial plane is now being built on three continents.
Photographer: Balint Porneczi/Bloomberg
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With little fanfare, Airbus SE is about to mark an unusual milestone in aviation: simultaneous production of the same aircraft on three continents. The company will hand over the first A320 to roll out of its Mobile, Alabama, assembly plant on Aug. 25, meaning North America will join Europe and Asia in producing the most popular airliner in the world.
The Alabama facility opened in 2015 and has thus far produced three dozen of Airbus’s larger A321. The first U.S.-built A320 will be handed over Friday to Spirit Airlines Inc., which has ordered 98 of the planes. By year’s end, Airbus plans to reach a production rate of four aircraft per month at the Mobile facility.