Manufacturing began this month of the first Airbus A380 components, as work gets under way on the construction of facilities across Europe for series production of the ultra-large aircraft.
The first carbonfibre panels for the aircraft are being manufactured at the Airbus France plant in Nantes. Next month the first metal for the aircraft is due be cut at the French plant in Méaulte. Metal work will begin in Germany in mid-2002, with the milling of aluminium components in Varel, and the start of fuselage panel manufacturing in Nordenham. At the same time, Airbus UK will start cutting metal for the first A380 wings at Filton.
The Méaulte plant's workshop is being quadrupled in size, and is due to deliver the first sections to the Airbus subassembly facility in St Nazaire in 14 months. St Nazaire, which is responsible for the production of the A380's nose and centre-fuselage, is expanding its assembly hall by 5,000m² (53,820ft2) to cater for the A380.
The building of the Hamburg plant's major component assembly (MCA) hall is under way on reclaimed land on the Mhlenberger Loch site. The 350m- (1,150ft) long MCA unit is due to be completed in about a year, and will house the assembly-line forthe forward- and aft-fuselage sections. A cabin furnishing hall will be built alongside, and the site will also include two paintshops, apre-flight hangar, and an engine run-up facility.
The plant will have a quay on the River Elbe for the transportation by sea of subassemblies to St Nazaire and the Toulouse final assembly line (via Bordeaux). A delivery centre is also being built at Hamburg which will handle A380s for customers in Europe and the Middle East. Other deliveries will be made from Toulouse.
Construction of the Airbus UK A380 wing-assembly plant at Broughton will begin this year. The first wing is due to go into jig in around a year's time, and the first completed wing-set will be shipped to the Toulouse final assembly line by sea in early 2004.
Work on the A380 site in Toulouse, dubbed Aeroconstellation, is under way and due to be completed by the end of next year. Construction of the 460m-long final assembly building will begin within 12 weeks, and receive the first subassemblies in late 2003. The first 550-seater is due to fly around 12 months later.
Source: Flight International
