Airbus are to step up the pace on their final assembly lines (Germany, France, China, USA). The European aircraft manufacturer has just announced that from the summer of 2019, it will be producing sixty A320neo’s each month - that’s eighteen units more than today.
In order to do this, Airbus will be expanding their plant in Hamburg (Germany) by creating an additional assembly line. The Toulouse (France) assembly line, will be given the task of fitting out the A320’s cabin interiors produced there, an activity that until now was carried out in Germany.
This Airbus ramp-up was necessary. To date, their "best seller", the A320neo, totals more than 4,300 orders from 75 different companies. The latest contract, at nearly 10 billion euros, was received from China on 29 October for the purchase of 100 units. Airbus must therefore keep pace with orders to at least give their rival Boeing a run for their money, who themselves expect to manufacture 52 737’s per month in 2018, as against today’s 42.