Airbus starts work on A220 assembly line six months after Bombardier sold jetliner
Posted Jan 16, 2019 03:15:08 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MONTREAL — Airbus SE broke ground Wednesday on the A220 aircraft assembly line at its facility in Mobile, Ala., the first step in a US$300-million construction project paid for by Bombardier Inc.
That amount makes up a chunk of the US$925 million the Quebec plane-and-train maker could shell out by the end of 2021 under a partnership that saw Airbus to take control of the C Series — now known as the A220 — last July without paying a penny.
The event took place at the Airbus plant in Alabama, where assembly of the popular A320 passenger jet is already underway. The French airplane giant says the new project will create 400 factory jobs.
Production of the narrow-body A220 is expected to start in the third quarter, whether or not plant construction is complete, in order to make the first deliveries in 2020.
Airbus says the project will generate economic spinoffs for Quebec, forecasting that northern suppliers of the A220 will rake in about $400 million per month once the Mirabel, Que., and Mobile facilities are up and running at full capacity.
The company says that the two plants will churn out 10 aircraft and four aircraft, respectively.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BBD.B)
The Canadian Press
