The Final Assembly Line (FAL) facility for Airbus’ latest airliner, the
A350 XWB, was formally inaugurated and named in Toulouse, France, on
Tuesday. The FAL has an area equivalent to almost 300 tennis courts and
its roof is partly covered by 22 000 m2 of photovoltaic panels, which
use solar energy to provide more than 50% of its energy requirements.
The ceremony was presided over by the Prime Minister of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and the president and CEO of the company, Fabrice Brégier. It was attended by more than 1 000 Airbus employees, as well as by suppliers, customers, other French national and regional officials and representatives of the other Airbus home countries.
The facility was named in honour of Airbus pioneer and aeronautical engineer Roger Béteille, who attended the ceremony. “Innovation is deeply rooted in our DNA and this is fully demonstrated on the A350 XWB, the world’s newest, most advanced airliner,” affirmed Brégier. “Today we honour Roger Béteille, an exceptional aviation pioneer and ... one of our industry’s greatest innovators.”
Describing the naming as “a great honour” and describing the FAL as “magnificent, state of the art,” Béteille stated that “Airbus’ success is a concrete example of how European partners working hand in hand can achieve incredible things together and this has been an essential ingredient to becoming the world’s largest and premier aircraft manufacturer.”
At full production (to be achieved in 2018) the FAL will employ 1 500 and have an output capacity of ten A350 XWBs a month. Although only formally inaugurated yesterday, the FAL has been operational for some time, and has nearly completed the assembly of the first A350 XWB, which, however, will be used only for static tests and will never fly. This static aircraft now has its full fuselage, both wings and its vertical tail plane, and once the final components are added, it will be towed to the static test hangar, with testing scheduled to start in the northern spring of next year.
In addition, the first A350 XWB that will fly, designated MSN1, is already on the FAL. Its fuselage has been assembled and its wings and horizontal tail plane have been delivered to the FAL and will be attached to the fuselage during this month (November).
The ceremony was presided over by the Prime Minister of France, Jean-Marc Ayrault, and the president and CEO of the company, Fabrice Brégier. It was attended by more than 1 000 Airbus employees, as well as by suppliers, customers, other French national and regional officials and representatives of the other Airbus home countries.
The facility was named in honour of Airbus pioneer and aeronautical engineer Roger Béteille, who attended the ceremony. “Innovation is deeply rooted in our DNA and this is fully demonstrated on the A350 XWB, the world’s newest, most advanced airliner,” affirmed Brégier. “Today we honour Roger Béteille, an exceptional aviation pioneer and ... one of our industry’s greatest innovators.”
Describing the naming as “a great honour” and describing the FAL as “magnificent, state of the art,” Béteille stated that “Airbus’ success is a concrete example of how European partners working hand in hand can achieve incredible things together and this has been an essential ingredient to becoming the world’s largest and premier aircraft manufacturer.”
At full production (to be achieved in 2018) the FAL will employ 1 500 and have an output capacity of ten A350 XWBs a month. Although only formally inaugurated yesterday, the FAL has been operational for some time, and has nearly completed the assembly of the first A350 XWB, which, however, will be used only for static tests and will never fly. This static aircraft now has its full fuselage, both wings and its vertical tail plane, and once the final components are added, it will be towed to the static test hangar, with testing scheduled to start in the northern spring of next year.
In addition, the first A350 XWB that will fly, designated MSN1, is already on the FAL. Its fuselage has been assembled and its wings and horizontal tail plane have been delivered to the FAL and will be attached to the fuselage during this month (November).
Edited by: Creamer Media Reporter
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/airbus-a350-xwb-final-assembly-line-formally-inaugurated-2012-10-24?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=t.co
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