Airbus S.A.S., a France-based aircraft manufacturer, has started construction work on a new $600 million manufacturing plant in Mobile, Alabama.
The new assembly line, which is the company’s first US-based production facility, will be located at the Mobile Brookley Aeroplex, a former military airfield adjacent to Mobile Bay, in Mobile Alabama.
The new plant will facilitate assembly of A319, A320 and A321 aircraft. It will have a capacity to manufacture four planes per month. The new Mobile assembly line, together with associated functions, is expected to create about 1,000 new high-skilled jobs in the region.
The major construction of the facility will begin in mid-2013. Aircraft assembly is planned to begin in 2015, with first delivery of a Mobile-assembled aircraft in 2016. The facility is expected to produce between 40 and 50 aircraft per year by 2018.
Airbus offers a wide variety of airliners on the market, ranging in capacity from 100 to more than 500 seats. The company has sold over 11,500 Airbus aircraft to more than 470 customers and operators worldwide. Airbus operates as a subsidiary of European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS NV.