Airbus, a division of EADS NV (EADSY.PK, EADSF.PK), said it will establish a manufacturing facility in the United States to assemble and deliver A320 Family aircraft. Located at the Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Alabama, it will be the company's first U.S.-based production facility.
Airbus said that the assembly line is part of its strategy to enhance Airbus' global competitiveness by meeting the growing needs of its customers in the United States and elsewhere.
The facility in Alabama will assemble A319, A320 and A321 aircraft family. The company said construction of the assembly line will begin in summer 2013. Aircraft assembly is planned to start in 2015, with first deliveries from the Mobile facility beginning in 2016. Airbus anticipates the facility will produce between 40 and 50 aircraft per year by 2018.
The company noted that the new Mobile assembly line, together with associated functions, should create as many as 1,000 new high-skilled jobs.
Airbus said it partners with hundreds of US suppliers in more than 40 US states, and the company's expenditures in the U.S. support more than 210,000 American jobs.
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