Giant Aircraft: ᴍᴀɴufacturing an Airbus A350 - Mega ᴍᴀɴufacturing

The A350 is the world’s most cutting-edge commercial airplane, assembled in Fʀᴀɴᴄᴇ from millions of parts produced across Europe. The world’s most advanced commercial airplane is the Airbus A350. This feat of aeronautical engineering requires the work of 1800 highly qualified specialists in Toulouse, Fʀᴀɴᴄᴇ, and 2.5 million individual parts that are shipped from all over the world. The objective was to create a plane with a high range and low fuel consumption. Modern ultra-light composite materials make up 53% of the aircraft. But completely new ᴍᴀɴufacturing techniques are also necessary for the novel material.

A problem for Toulouse’s aircraft ᴍᴀɴufacturers. A logistical masterwork comes before the final assembly: The front and center sections of the aircraft originate in Saint-Nazaire, Fʀᴀɴᴄᴇ, the tail section originates in Hamburg, the wings originate in Broughton, Wales, and Bremen, and the tail fin originates in Getafe, Sᴘᴀɪɴ. The individual parts of the aircraft are transported from various Airbus plants in Europe to Toulouse. These components are delivered to the Toulouse production by the Beluga, a delivery plane created especially for the job.

Five of these machines travel between the various factories several times each day, bringing supplies for the ᴍᴀɴufacturing seven days a week from early in the morning until late at night. Additionally, Toulouse is not where the components’ trip ends. The A350 will have gone through seven hangars or stations by the time it is finished being put together. There are ᴍᴀɴy ʀɪsᴋ variables associated in the A350’s production because of the enormous number of components that must be put together and the big number of different suppliers. The modern aircraft is very well-liked by airlines, and there are currently 890 pending orders, so there is a lot of pressure. Every month, ten A350 aircraft are required to depart the plant.