Airbus believes there will be no impact on A350 aircraft deliveries after a fire damaged equipment at its Illescas plant south of Madrid.
The fire broke out on 25 March in one of the production halls.
FlightGlobal understands that the blaze affected an autoclave in the area of section 19 manufacture for the A350.
Section 19 is part of the aft fuselage which interfaces with the tail cone.
“After analysing the impact on production, it will not be possible to resume production in the affected area in the short term,” says an Airbus spokesperson.
But the airframer insists that there is “no estimated impact on deliveries” because it has “sufficient reserve capacity”.
With no feasible immediate alternatives to restore production, the manufacturer is having to implement a temporary redundancy plan, citing “force majeure”, which will affect the section 19 workforce.
FlightGlobal understands this process will remain in effect until mid-May.
“This is a one-off, extraordinary measure due to a supervening situation that temporarily makes it impossible to work in the affected production area,” says the spokesperson.
“The aim is to guarantee stability and minimise the impact on our teams. We are working to manage the situation in the best possible way and we are confident of a speedy recovery.”
No-one required medical attention as a result of the incident. Investigation is underway with initial suspicion centred on a possible autoclave heating system malfunction, FlightGlobal has learned.
Airbus also manufactures section 19 for the A350 at its Spanish facility in Getafe.
