Airbus’ upcoming Extra Long Range single-aisle narrowbody aircraft,
the A321XLR, is expected to disrupt the status quo of long-haul travel.
Airbus commenced the structural assembly of this new plane in May of this year.
While most know where final assembly takes place, where are its parts built?
Any aircraft built today is a tale of multiple sites and countries.
Innumerous components come together from all over the world to create the engineering marvels that
are the foundations of modern commercial air travel. Airbus has long brought the various
parts of its airplanes to its Final Assembly Lines (FAL) from all across Europe and beyond.
The wings of the A321XLR are built where all Airbus wings are built (with the exception of the
A220): in the planemaker’s Broughton facilities in Wales in the UK. The Broughton plant has a
long history in British aviation, dating back some 80 years, and is home to 6,000 Airbus employees.
Meanwhile, the forward sections of the plane, up to and including the center wing box,
are made in France. The nose fuselage, forward fuselage, and section 14A are all constructed
in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast, with parts arriving from domestically and abroad.
Airbus commenced the assembly of the first nose and front fuselages at the beginning of July.
Saint-Nazaire is home to a little over 3,000 Airbus employees and assembles, equips, and tests
the forward sections of the entire A320 family. The radome, air inlet, and center wing box (CWB)
are produced a little further inland along the Loire at Airbus’ facilities in Nantes.
Delivery of the very first CWB from Nantes to Hamburg took place in April this year.
“The center wing box is always the first major component on each new
aircraft development to be produced, so we must mature its design very early and manage
its interdependencies with fuel systems, load calculations, as well as physical interfaces
to the airframe aerostructure components developed in France, Germany and the UK.”
From the center fuselage and back, it’s nearly all Germany. As previously stated, the flaps come out
of Bremen, a facility that sits at the crossroads of Airbus’ commercial aircraft, defense and space
activities. The vertical tail fin of the A321XLR is produced in the old Hanseatic city of Stade.
The center fuselage, aft fuselage, rear center tank, and rear fuselage are all made in Airbus’
facilities in Hamburg, with components arriving from subcontractors such as Premium AEROTEC
in Augsburg. Structural assembly of the first center and rear fuselages began in May this year.
Martin Schoor, Head of the A321XLR development program, commented,
“The pilot line dedicated to the A321XLR is ready and waiting to operate the assembly phases
for the first flight test aircraft, all the way through to the entry into service.”
Airbus’ plants in Spain bring up the rear with the tail cone and horizontal tailplane
made in Getafe, close to Madrid. The location also used to be the home of
the A380 horizontal stabilizers before the Giant of the Skies went out of production.
The A321XLR is scheduled to enter service in 2023, with test flights planned for next year. Airbus
has already received orders for over 450 of the jets, with American Airlines and United Airlines
set to become its major operators out of the gate. Have you visited any of the cities that produce
these A321XLR sections? Let us know by leaving a comment.