Airbus has delivered the first A220 aircraft assembled at its Mobile, Alabama, manufacturing site to Delta Air Lines.

The aerospace giant says this underlines its role as a global aircraft producer and heralding the arrival of a new era in Airbus aircraft production in the US.

“The delivery of the first US-built A220-300 is a historic moment that highlights Airbus’ growing industrial footprint in North America and makes us all extremely proud,” said C. Jeffrey Knittel, chairman & CEO Airbus Americas. “We look forward to seeing passengers delighted by the experience of travelling on board this brand new A220-300 proudly built in Mobile, Alabama.”

Several milestones led up to this historic moment. From the groundbreaking of the Mobile A220 Final Assembly Line in January 2019, through the official start of A220 production in August 2019, and the inaugural flight of this aircraft in June, the A220 teams in Mirabel (Quebec) and Mobile worked closely together to make the A220 production in the US a success.

“Handing over the first US-assembled aircraft to a US-based customer is a real point of pride for the A220 programme,” said Philippe Balducchi, leading the A220 programme. “This delivery is the first of many to come and shows the strong collaborative spirit between the A220 Programme teams globally.”

To date, approximately 400 US employees have been trained on A220 production – some in Mirabel, Quebec, Canada, where the A220 program and primary final assembly line are located. A year ago, the first US based A220 production team, comprised of experienced and new team members, began assembling A220s in Mobile.

Delta Air Lines is currently the largest A220 customer, with a total of 95 on order, and will be the first A220 operator in the Americas to be operating both A220-100 and A220-300 aircraft types.

As of end September 2020, 123 A220s have been delivered to seven operators and are being flown on routes in Asia, America, Europe and Africa, showing the versatility of Airbus’s latest family member.

www.airbus.com

Related Articles

Most recent Articles

Source: https://www.aero-mag.com/airbus-a220-mobile-23102020/