The last ever Airbus A380 has been assembled
The last A380 ‘superjumbo’ to be built rolled from ‘Station 40’ assembly line at the Airbus production plant in Toulouse on Wednesday.
Airbus held a special event for employees to commemorate the milestone, which was attended by Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury.
Picture: Julie Kitcher/Airbus
With initial assembly completed MSN 272 will move to station 35 where the fuselage will be riveted together along with the installation of its stabilizers, landing gear and engine pylons.
The aircraft will complete its final checks, including on-board computers, landing gear, fuel gauge calibration, cabin pressurisation, radios, radar, navigation systems and fuel tank sealing. Engines will also be fitted.
Picture: Julie Kitcher/Airbus
It will then be delivered to Emirates, along with seven others that are nearing or have been completed.
The last one ! 😭Initial assembly of msn 272, the last #Airbus #A380 is completed, it was transferred from station 40 to station 35 this morning. 🇦🇪 #AvGeek #Toulouse pic.twitter.com/wvKDqKyLil
— Aviation Toulouse (@Frenchpainter) September 23, 2020
The final wing sets left Airbus Broughton in February this year.
Each wing – weighing 6.5 tons and costing around £24m – was transported from the Broughton factory on the custom-built Afon Dyfrdwy Barge.
The last wing was escorted along the River Dee by Flint RNLI Lifeboat to Mostyn Docks.
The two wings were loaded onto the Airbus roll on roll off ship at Mostyn Docks and transported to Bordeaux in France.
Hundreds turned out to see the last fuselage sections being transported through the French village of Levignac in February.
Goodbye #A380 👋🏻 ✈️ Last convoy in the village of Levignac, France – a unique moment shared with my #Airbus colleagues. No sadness, only pride. pic.twitter.com/LNOxdvMfmP
— Anthony (@anthrsdo) June 17, 2020
Airbus opened its £350m A380 wing plant at Broughton in 2003 at the time the facility was regarded as the largest factory to be built in the UK for years.
But with orders drying up and production running at a minimum former chief executive, Tom Enders pulled the plug on the A380 project in February 2018.
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The first A380 first delivered to Singapore Airlines on 15 October 2007 and entered service on 25 October.
Production peaked at 30 per year in 2012 and 2014. However, Airbus conceded that the investment in the twin decked aircraft cannot be recouped.
On 14 February 2019, after Emirates reduced its last orders in favour of the A350 and the A330neo, Airbus announced that A380 production would end by 2021.
