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Aviation History
2003
2003 - 1191.PDF
Production The Toulouse assembly line will be geared to produce up to four A380s a month initially, with provision for double that number if required Towards Toulouse After a long-running debate in which six possible final assembly sites were studied across Europe, Toulouse was chosen as the loca tion for the final assembly line (FAL) in 2000. In reality, there was little prospect of any location other than Airbus's home town being chosen to house the assembly line of its flagship model. To move the huge subassemblies com prising the aircraft to the Toulouse FAL, a major rethink of the whole Airbus production system was undertaken. Eventually the deci sion was taken to drop the existing air transportation system after it became clear that the sheer size of the components favoured surface transport using ships, barges and trucks. Construction of the enormous A380 FAL plant on the new Aeroconstellation complex on a greenfield site adjacent to the Airbus facilities in Toulouse is now well under way. The roof of the huge 500 x 250m (1,639 x 820ft) FAL assembly hall was raised into position in February. In June Airbus will start installing the production jigs and sta tions. Close to the building, two new A380-size hangars are nearing completion which will house the static test airframe and first flight aircraft. Although it missed out on the trophy of A380 components will travel by air, land and sea to the Toulouse assembly line housing the assembly line, Airbus Deutschland is undertaking a major share of A380 production across its plants in Bremen, Dresden, Finkenwerder, Laupheim, Nordenham and Varel. "€650 million ($740 million) has been invested by Airbus Deutschland for A380 production at the Hamburg-Finkenwerder plant," says the divi sion's chief executive Gerhard Puttfarcken. "We employ 8,900 people and this will increase by up to 2,000 for the A380 through to 2007, if production is on target for a rate of four per month," he adds. The German division has responsibility for the manufacture and assembly of the for ward and aft fuselage components, as well as the manufacture of the wing's trailing edge flaps (in Bremen); cabin furnishing and painting; and deliveries for European and Middle East customers. Stade, near Hamburg, continues to be the company's centre of excellence for composites produc tion, with responsibility for the A380's carbonfibre reinforced plastic vertical tailplane (VTP). The Finkenwerder plant is undertaking the final assembly of the fuselage sub assemblies and is being treated by Airbus as a second FAL. After overcoming local environmental opposition, a large part of the Miihlenberger Loch adjacent to the plant was reclaimed from the River Elbe, with funding by the city of Hamburg, which owns the land, to the tune of €660 million. This area will eventu ally house five A380 buildings: the 228 x 120m, 22,800m2 (245,425ft2) Major Component Assembly (MCA) hall, the four- bay interior furnishing hanger, two-bay paint shop, two-bay pre-flight hanger and delivery centre, as well as the roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) quay and ramp for the ship transportation system. The first forward and aft fuselage sub assemblies are due to start coming together in the MCA hall by August. The remainder of the buildings are due to be completed by mid-2005. There is already provision to dou ble the size of each building to enable a production rate of eight A380s a month. www.fliqhtinternational.com FLIGHT INTERNATIONAL SUPPLEMENT 20-26 MAY 2003 XXIX
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