In line with Airbus’s commitment to offer customers the highest quality aircraft in the shortest possible time, Airbus continues to invest in new equipment and facilities in its production lines. This is especially evident in the A330/A340 final assembly halls, which have seen new structures and equipment installed in recent years.
The state of the art production facilities, inaugurated in 1990, were expanded with the completion of a new paint shop in 2003, complementing the two paint shops currently in use. In 2002, two cabin furnishing bays were completed, which, together with the four-bay general engineering hangar, provide the necessary facilities to handle the growing trend towards increasingly sophisticated and time-consuming cabin outfitting. Also, in an effort to streamline the process further, basic cabin furnishings, such as walls, toilets, galleys and overhead bins, are installed simultaneously with systems and testing on the main production floor.
Investment into a second set of assembly jigs has allowed for the smooth introduction of the new A340-500 and -600 types and improved the ease of construction of the entire range of the A330/A340 Family. Also, a facility was installed in 2000 that allowed for the pre-positioning of the galleys prior to fuselage join, which eliminated the need to split these furnishings for installation via passenger doors of the aircraft.
These investments, along with an experienced, stable and highly skilled workforce, have progressively reduced the time required to complete each aircraft since the start of production in the early 1990s. On average today, and aircraft is delivered just 70 working days after the start of final assembly.
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Continuous Improvements Aids A330/A340 Delivery Times
