STELIA Aerospace delivers the first A321XLR elements assembled on its sites in Meaulte and Rochefort

STELIA Aerospace has just delivered to Airbus the first fuselage sections it has been assigned for the A321XLR (Extra Long Range) programme, the brand new member of the Airbus single-aisle family.

STELIA Aerospace is in charge of the design, manufacturing and assembly of all the sections of the front fuselage of the A321XLR.

The Meaulte and Rochefort sites have thus each delivered 3 of the 6 sections composing this fuselage. This delivery materialises the work carried out since 2019 by many STELIA Aerospace sites and subsidiaries: Toulouse and Rochefort for design and development; Saint-Nazaire, STELIA Tunisia and ACAM (Morocco) for the production of elementary parts and equipped sub-assemblies; Meaulte and Rochefort for the final assembly of the sections.

The A321XLR requires modifications on all the sections of the front fuselage with reference to the previous versions, regarding the structure and the equipment support. It benefits from the highest standards in terms of quality adopted by STELIA Aerospace on its modernised production lines in the frame of its "Industry of the Future" strategy (robotisation, augmented reality, digitalisation...)

Furthermore, STELIA Aerospace is currently developing its brand new 'OPERA' seat, destined for the A320 family 'Airspace' cabin, which includes the A321XLR, and enables a modular business class type configuration, with a level of comfort equivalent to that of a wide-body on a single-aisle.

« In the name of STELIA Aerospace, I am very happy and proud to have delivered today, according to schedule, our first elements for the A321XLR, the latest member of the Airbus single-aisle family, which will be a real game-changer on the long-range market. We have successfully completed the challenge of delivering in extremely short lead times », said Cedric Gautier, CEO of STELIA Aerospace.

With first deliveries planned in 2023, the A321XLR boasts a range of 8,700 km, 30% more than the A321neo. Therefore, the A321XLR can perform flights over 10 hours, and can for instance connect Europe to North or South America (i.e: Rome-New York) or Europe to Asia (i.e : London-Delhi).