Airbus’s new 74,000 square metre A350 final assembly line (FAL) has been inaugurated by French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Airbus president and chief executive officer Fabrice Brégier.
Attendees at the official ceremony in Toulouse saw the first flyable aircraft, MSN1, taking shape on the line before its first flight scheduled for mid 2013. Fuselage mating of MSN1 should be complete by the end of November. The static ground test aircraft is already nearing completion.
Airbus says that at full production, the FAL, which has been named after Airbus pioneer and founding father Roger Béteille, will employ some 1,500 people who will build up to ten aircraft a month from 2018.
