Final assembly of A320neo begins

Airbus started final assembly of the first A320neo in Toulouse, France, with the attachment of the forward and aft fuselage sections which recently arrived from St. Nazaire, France, and Hamburg, Germany, respectively. The next step is to join the wing to fuselage. It takes about a month to complete the final assembly of an A320. On average, every seven hours an A320 family aircraft leaves one of the three final assembly sites, in Toulouse, Hamburg or Tianjin, China. The first flight of the A320neo is to take place in the fourth quarter 2014 with first delivery about a year later. Airbus claims an order count of 2,600 A320neos from 50 customers since its launch in 2010. (Sources: Airbus, AIN, 03/17/14) Gulf Coast note: Airbus is building its fourth A320 final assembly line in Mobile, Ala.