Aircraft manufacturer Airbus and Tata Group have sealed a deal to jointly manufacture H125 single-engine helicopters for commercial purposes at its assembly line in Gujarat’s Vadodara.
As part of the deal, Airbus will establish its first Final Assembly Line (FAL) for helicopters and aircraft in India where both the H125 single-engine helicopters and 40 C-295 transport aircraft will be produced.
Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL) will manage the assembly line in Gujarat.
While most of the manufacturing activities of Airbus remain in Europe, in locations such as Toulouse and Hamburg, the aircraft manufacturer does have assembly lines elsewhere, including the United States, Canada, and China.
Airbus has more than 20 manufacturing sites, each producing and/or assembling different parts of the aircraft – which subsequently are shipped to final assembly lines where the complete aircraft takes shape.
These plants rely on thousands of suppliers worldwide, who produce roughly 80 percent of the aircraft, according the Airbus' website.
Here's a look at the aircraft manufacturer's facilities around the world:
Each Airbus model has its specific supply chain. The company currently manufactures three primary aircraft families, the A320neo, the A330neo, and the A350neo, with each having subvariants.
For the A320, the center fuselage is made in Hamburg, Germany, and the horizontal stabilizer is from Getafe, Spain.
The rudder is made in Harbin, China, and other components are also supplied by Chinese manufacturers.
The A320 family has assembly lines on three continents. Besides Europe, this narrowbody is assembled in Tianjin, China, where deliveries are made to Asian airlines, and Mobile, Alabama, US. Some carriers in the Americas – such as Volaris and JetSMART – have recently received US-made A320neo family aircraft.
The forward fuselage and center wing box of the A321XLR is produced in France, while the central and rear fuselage sections and vertical tail are made in Germany.
Getafe in Spain handles the tail cone and horizontal tailplane of the A321XLR, and the wings remain produced in the UK.
Airbus currently operates final assembly lines in six locations in France, Germany, US, Canada, China and now in India.
While the two European assembly lines provide planes globally, the facilities in Tianjin in China and Mobile in Alabama, United States cater to local markets.
These final assembly lines produce the following aircraft Toulouse, France: A320, A330, A350 (and previously A380), Hamburg, Germany: A320, Mobile, Alabama, US: A220 and A320, Tianjin, China: A320, Mirabel, Canada: A220 and Gujarat’s Vadodara H125 single-engine helicopters and 40 C-295 transport aircraft.
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