Airbus on Monday held a ground breaking ceremony at the site of their future A320 family final assembly line in Mobile, Alabama, signaling the start of construction of their first production facility in the Americas.
The facility, which will produce the Airbus A319, A320, A321, is slated to start production on the first aircraft in 2015 with delivery in 2016, while assembly of the A320neo family of aircraft is planned for 2018. “Our customers need more aircraft that cut fuel burn, emissions and operating costs. With this assembly line we will be able to meet our customers’ needs at their doorstep, in addition to the worldwide demand for these efficient aircraft,” said Airbus President and CEO Fabrice Brégier.
The ceremony used JetBlue’s N821JB, the first production-modified Airbus A320 with Sharklets, as the backdrop. David Barger, chief executive of JetBlue, has been quite vocal that his airline intends on receiving the first A320 produced at the new Mobile facility, though Airbus has not confirmed this.
