Just three years after celebrating the delivery of its 2,000th set of Airbus wings, the UK-based wing design and manufacturing operation of Airbus has delivered its 3,000th set of wings to the aircraft final assembly lines.
This 3,000th wing-set is for an A321 aircraft, one of the hugely successful Airbus single-aisle family, which is scheduled for delivery to major Airbus customer US Airways.
The fully completed and tested wings - equipped with all moving flying surfaces, electrical, hydraulic and fuel systems - were delivered from Airbus UK's Broughton, North Wales site on Monday 18th February 2002 to Hamburg, Germany (where the wings will be attached to the aircraft fuselage on the single-aisle final assembly line).
Dispatched on the Airbus A300-600 Super Transporter aircraft "the Beluga", the 3,000th wing set travelled as part of a double-load (together with the 3,001st set). They were carried in special jigs which increase transportation efficiency by holding two complete sets of single aisle wings in each delivery flight.
A small group of workers from Airbus Broughton site who helped to produce the wings were present to witness the landmark occasion. They represented both their design and manufacturing colleagues in Airbus at Filton, Bristol and more than 62,000 workers in over 400 UK companies and many others in supplier companies world-wide who work on wings for Airbus.
The first set of Airbus wings was delivered from Broughton in November 1971. Twenty-one years later, in May 1992, the 1,000th set was dispatched. The 2,000th set followed just seven years later in February 1999. The latest 1,000 sets - bringing the total to 3,000 - have been completed in just three years.
US Airways, the end-customer for the 3,000th set of wings, seats 169 passengers in a very comfortable two-class layout in its A321 aircraft. The airline was the first U.S. operator of the A321 and was also the first carrier to fly three members of the Airbus A320 single-aisle family in the United States. US Airways has firm orders for a total of 155 single aisle Airbus aircraft and ten twin-aisle A330-300s. To date well over 120 of these 165 aircraft have been delivered to the airline.
Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer with the most modern and comprehensive family of airliners on the market, ranging in capacity from 100 to more than 500 seats. Airbus has delivered over 2,800 aircraft to 180 customers world-wide, and boasts a healthy order book of more than 1,500 aircraft for delivery over the coming years.
With an annual turnover of 20.5 billion Euro in 2001, Airbus is a global company with design and manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the UK, and Spain as well as subsidiaries in the U.S., China and Japan. Headquartered in Toulouse, France, Airbus is a joint EADS company with BAE Systems.
