Flight_International 28Jan2020

AIR TRANSPORT

flightglobal.com 28 January-3 February 2020 | Flight International | 13

A220 gains lift

under new

ownership

Air Transport P

A

fully automated A350-
take-off has been carried out
by Airbus using a vision-based
system that tracks the runway
centreline and rotates the aircraft
without side-stick input from
the pilot.
The initial departure with the
test system was carried out at
Toulouse on 18 December and the
crew of five made eight flights in
the course of around 4h 30min.
Image-recognition technology
was installed on the aircraft as
part of the airframer’s ATTOL
project to explore autonomous
taxiing, take-off and landing.

“We moved the throttle levers

to the take-off setting and we

monitored the aircraft,” says test

pilot Yann Beaufils.

He says the aircraft automati-

cally detected and tracked the

centreline before rotating to the

correct pitch at the airspeed

logged with the system.

“The aircraft performed as

expected during these milestone

tests,” he adds.

Airbus will continue to devel-

op the technology and plans to

conduct vision-based taxiing and

landing towards the middle of

this year.

OPERATIONS DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

Airbus trials fully automated take-off technology

The ATTOL project com-

menced about 18 months ago.

Airbus says that, while it is

looking into autonomous

technology, pilots “will remain

at the heart of operations” and

its intention is to examine the

degree to which autonomy can

be used to resolve “key industri-

al challenges”. ■

System can keep aircraft on the centreline without side-stick input

Airbus

STRATEGY DAVID KAMINSKI-MORROW LONDON

A380 makes way for A321 in Toulouse

Space vacated by axed double-decker will be used from mid-2022 to ease single-aisle family's production bottlenecks

A

irbus is to increase its A
production capability, by
converting its A380 facilities in
Toulouse to accommodate a
digitally-enabled A321 final
assembly line.
It will introduce production of
the A321 to Toulouse for the first
time – Airbus’s largest single-
aisle variant is currently built in
Hamburg Finkenwerder and
Mobile, Alabama.
The airframer says the change

• to be in place by mid-2022 –
  will provide “more flexibility”
  for A321 production, although it
  adds that overall single-aisle
  industrial capacity at Toulouse
  will remain “flat”.
  Airbus’s A321neo has proven
  particularly popular, accounting
  for 3,255 orders – or 45% of all
  commitments for the re-engined
  A320neo family.
  But this has put pressure on
  the industrial system at Airbus
  owing to the introduction of new
  variants of the A321neo as its
  range has increased and carriers
  have requested configurations
  suitable for these longer-haul
  operations.
  The latest of the variants, the

MANUFACTURING JON HEMMERDINGER BOSTON

Mobile keeps moving upwards as part of global output increase

Production of the A320neo is to be

boosted by Airbus at its Mobile,

Alabama site to seven aircraft per

month in 2021, amid a US-

imposed import tax on European-

made commercial aircraft.

Airbus currently builds five

A320neos per month there and says

this will grow to six within weeks.

The airframer says its decision is

not based on the impact of US tar-

iffs – which do not yet cover parts

or aerostructures – but is simply to

help it achieve a global production

output of 63 A320neo-family

aircraft per month in 2021.

The increase at Mobile to seven

aircraft monthly will take effect “by

the beginning of next year”, it

says. “The increase, and contin-

ued recruitment for the A

manufacturing team, will result in a

further 275 jobs being added at

the Alabama-based facility over

the next year,” it adds.

As part of these efforts, Airbus

will spend $40 million to build

another support hangar in Mobile,

bringing its total investment at the

site to more than $1 billion.

Airbus delivered its first Mobile-

assembled A320 in 2016 and

began production of A220s there

last year.

It intends to assemble four

A220s per month at the site by the

mid-2020s, at which time its

combined A220 and A320 output

will hit 130 aircraft per year. ■

Airbus

A321XLR, is due to become

available from 2023.

Airbus says it will use the

A380 Lagardere facility to install

a modernised A321 line, support-

ed by digital capabilities, as part

of its overhaul of production to

incorporate the latest technology.

Chief operating officer Michael

Schoellhorn says the measure

will “optimise industrial flow”

and increase production capacity

specifically for the A321 models.

Airbus says it has informed its

unions of the decision to place

the new line at Toulouse.

The French site was selected

for reasons of “overall competi-

tiveness”, cost of investment and

time to market, says Airbus, as

well as available space. The

company is winding down

assembly of its A380 at Toulouse,

following last year’s decision to

terminate production. ■

Largest narrowbody variant is currently built in Hamburg and USA