Airbus is ramping up production of its new generation A350 XWB airliner to meet customer demand, following maiden delivery to Qatar Airways ...
As of November 2014 end, the A350 XWB had logged 778 firm orders from 41 customers worldwide. Airbus plans to ramp up production progressively to reach the planned rate of 10 aircraft per month by 2018.
Current production rate has reached three aircraft per month, with 12 customer aircraft in various stages of production at the Roger Béteille Final Assembly Line (FAL) in Toulouse, France.
The aircraft in FAL are destined for Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines and Finnair.
Like the A350, featuring 25 per cent fuel efficiency, Airbus has also built the Toulouse FAL as one of the greenest production line. The building is designed in such a way that it utilise the natural lighting wherever possible and has a photovoltaic roofing which meets 55% of its energy needs.
Meanwhile, development of the stretched 369 seat A350-1000 is progressing, with more than half completed. The first aircraft is scheduled to enter final assembly in the beginning of 2016.
Airbus competitor Boeing builds the rival 787 Dreamliner at 10 each per month at two plants and plans to increase the production rate to 12 per month in 2016 and to 14 per month by 2020. Dreamliner has won 1030 orders from 60 customers worldwide and currently has a backlog for 850 aircraft.
Photo: Vietnam Airlines A350 at FAL
