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News archive: Airbus S.A.S.

Every Bulletin story and press release covering Airbus S.A.S., newest first.

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71 items · page 1 of 2

23 July Wing sections are being assembled at Airbus' Wing Technology Development Centre in the UK.

Airbus tests longer wings on A321neo demonstrator

Full-scale wing extensions will be fitted to an A321neo over the next three years to assess how longer wingspans affect handling and efficiency.

18 June A former A380 facility now houses two advanced A320 family assembly lines.

Airbus expands Toulouse capacity with second A320 line

The latest production facility has strengthened Airbus’ global assembly network as demand for the A321neo continues to grow.

3 June The MSN 707 flew for three hours and 43 minutes during its first sortie from Toulouse.

World's longest-range passenger aircraft completes maiden flight

Qantas plans to use the Airbus aircraft on non-stop Sydney-London services lasting up to 22 hours, a route once considered beyond the reach of commercial aviation.

30 April Two test aircraft are planned to support certification of the A350F freighter ahead of entry into service by the end of the decade.

A350F is closer to flight after first cargo door delivery

The industry’s largest cargo door has moved from Spain to Toulouse for installation on a test aircraft, signalling a shift from assembly into testing phase.

29 January Daher is now responsible for preparation work across both A321 lines at the Jean-Luc Lagardère site.

Daher deepens Airbus involvement on A321 and A350

Airbus awarded Daher a second A321 final assembly line contract and renewed widebody outfitting deals for its A350 and A330 programmes.

17 December 2025 The Airbus A400M military transport aircraft will benefit from the campaign.

Airbus deploys Stratasys printed parts for A320, A350 and A400M

Certified polymer components have cut weight, reduced lead times and improved production flexibility across Airbus aircraft supported by Stratasys systems.

5 November 2025 Cici Tu, Sales Representative, FDH Aero; Archer Xu, Senior Sales Manager, FDH Aero; Cody Ho, Managing Director APAC, FDH Aero; Pierre Jacquet Francillon, Head of Procurement and Supply Chain, HHACMC; Fujun Xu, Head of Flyable Procurement, Logistics and Customs Affairs, HHACMC; and Liwei Kou, Senior Buyer, HHACMC, following the signing of the new Airbus A350 fastener supply agreement.

FDH Aero secures multi-year fastener agreement for A350

Under its first direct Airbus contract, FDH Aero will partner with Harbin Hafei Airbus Composite Manufacturing Centre to supply fasteners for the A350’s composite tail section.

30 October 2025

Airbus expands in Tianjin with second A320 assembly line

The improved Tianjin facility increases Airbus’ global final assembly capacity and supports its plan to build 75 A320 Family aircraft each month by 2027.

7 August 2025 The piloted VX4 prototype undergoing flight testing at Vertical’s Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport.

Aciturri to supply entire VX4 airframe for Vertical

The company has agreed to manufacture and engineer the full VX4 airframe as part of Vertical’s wider Flightpath 2030 production and certification strategy.

31 July 2025 Assembly and outfitting of the stabiliser took place at Airbus Getafe.

Airbus completes first horizontal stabiliser for A350F in Spain

Cádiz and Getafe facilities produced and assembled the tail unit ahead of shipment to Toulouse for fuselage integration and testing.

12 June 2025 The project seeks to reuse continuous fibre-reinforced thermoplastics in other aerospace applications.

Toray, Daher and TARMAC launch A380 thermoplastics recycling

The Airbus-backed initiative has targeted the reuse of carbon/PPS composite pylon covers, aiming to reduce industry waste.

5 June 2025

Safran Blades opens Marchin site for titanium blade production

The facility in Wallonia was built with regional and federal support and aims to produce 700,000 blades annually by 2026.

21 May 2025 ZeroAvia Hydrogen Centre of Excellence at AMIDS.

ZeroAvia selects Scotland for second factory

The high temperature fuel cells that ZeroAvia will manufacture in the planned Glasgow facility are said to be key to unlocking fuel cell propulsion for larger aircraft.

27 March 2025 Airbus’ ZEROe hydrogen-electric aircraft concept, featuring four electric propulsion engines each powered by fuel cells and twin liquid hydrogen tanks.

Airbus presents roadmap for hydrogen and single-aisle aircraft

Hydrogen-electric fuel cell development and SAF-ready design studies were both announced during the 2025 Airbus Summit in Toulouse.

20 March 2025 The BYA-1’s hydrogen fuel cell stack capacity has been increased to 2.4MW.

Beyond Aero advances hydrogen-electric jet design for certification

The BYA-1 features a refined fuel cell system, enhanced safety measures, and reduced operating costs to support sustainable business aviation.

6 March 2025 The GTF Advantage underwent more than twice the endurance testing of the current GTF model.

GTF Advantage engine secures FAA certification for A320neo

Pratt & Whitney’s latest turbofan delivers more thrust, improved durability and better efficiency while ensuring compatibility with 100% sustainable aviation fuel.

16 January 2025

BAE Systems develops energy storage for Airbus project

The collaboration marks a significant step toward integrating electrification technologies for commercial aircraft that aim to reduce carbon emissions.

9 January 2025 Vertical's VX4 prototype eVTOL, which completed its first piloted thrustborne flight manoeuvres.

Vertical Aerospace advances eVTOL testing with AI tools and flight milestones

The company has partnered with Monolith to optimise AI-powered testing and has completed its first piloted thrustborne manoeuvres, with wingborne tests next on the agenda.

13 November 2024 This computer-generated image shows the buildup of Cassio aircraft in VoltAero’s final assembly facility at Rochefort Airport in the Charente-Maritime department of France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region.

VoltAero readies production of Cassio in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

The first production aircraft version will be the Cassio 330, with a four/five-seat interior configuration and operating on a combined electric-hybrid propulsion power of 330 kilowatts.

7 November 2024

Enhanced body design shortens path to production for Switchblade

The new design improves performance and shortens the pathway to production by transferring much of what worked well in the test vehicle that flew, into the new streamlined design.

24 October 2024 Rob Bray - Engineering Co-Founder, Hyflux (Left), Prof Rod Badcock, Victoria University of Wellington, Robinson Research Institute (Centre), and Dr Gareth Smith - Chief Operating Officer, Hyflux (Right) at the EFATS Conference in Netherlands.

HyFlux partners with researchers to develop zero-emission aircraft engine

This collaboration unites HyFlux’s cutting-edge innovations in superconducting motor technology with the world-class research expertise of the Paihau-Robinson Research Institute, led by Professor Rod Badcock.

5 September 2024

Diehl Aviation begins construction in Mexico

The first product that Diehl Aviation will produce in Mexico is extra-spacious luggage compartments for the Airbus A220. The A220 is assembled in Mirabel, Québec and Mobile, Alabama, USA.

24 July 2024 The LEAP-1A-powered Airbus A321XLR.

Long-legged A321XLR receives EASA type certification

The first A321XLR completed its maiden flight in June 2022. This was followed by an extensive test programme involving three test aircraft. So far more than 500 Airbus A321XLRs have been ordered.

13 June 2024 Liebherr-Aerospace was selected by Airbus to provide the next generation of flight control computers. They will be developed and manufactured at Liebherr-Aerospace Lindenberg GmbH (picture) and Liebherr-Electronics and Drives GmbH in Lindau (Germany).

Liebherr provides next gen flight control computers for Airbus

The flight control computer experts have a clear focus on R&D for highly integrated solutions in the area of high performance and multicore processing control computers.

13 June 2024

Senior expands French production of valves and hydraulics

Increased capacity at Fossé will be used to produce industrial valves and high-pressure hydraulic fittings used in aerospace fluid-conveyance systems. Parent company Senior plc has also secured new contracts with Collins.

29 May 2024 Susumu Kataoka (President - JETRO); Yoshio Ando (Minister - Embassy of Japan in France); Sabine Klauke (CTO - Airbus); Stéphane Ginoux (President - Airbus Japan); and Ravo Randria (Senior Manager Cooperation Americas Japan - DGAC).

Airbus plans Tech Hub in Japan

The new Airbus Tech Hub, coordinated from Tokyo, will focus on three key research areas, including the development of new materials, decarbonisation technologies, robotics and automation.

20 March 2024 First opened in 2012, Collins' Philippines facility also manufactures a range of other cabin interior products, including galleys, galley inserts, oxygen equipment and lavatories.

Collins delivers first aircraft seats from Philippines

The site's seating assembly capacity is expected to triple throughout 2024, with deliveries to 14 separate customers across multiple original equipment manufacturer linefits and several retrofit locations.

29 February 2024 The long bed machining capability at the Wrexham facility.

Magellan gains multi-year contract for Airbus wing spars

The agreement focuses on the production of precision-machined wing spars for use on the A320 family of aircraft, and will involve expansion of Magellan's long bed machining capability at its Wrexham facility.

25 January 2024 The centre will complement the other activities from Airbus sites in Bremen (Germany), Nantes (France), Madrid (Spain) and Filton (UK) to get a hydrogen powered aircraft in the sky by 2035.

ZEROe Development Center opens doors for hydrogen technologies

A priority for the Stade ZEDC is the development of cost-competitive lightweight Hydrogen systems such as cryogenic Hydrogen tanks, in composites.

25 January 2024 Sopra Steria will help Airbus roll out its new flight management system.

Airbus chooses Sopra Steria to optimise engineering processes

Sopra Steria has been selected, through its Aeroline vertical, to help European aeronautics giant Airbus modernise its engineering methods and tools.

3 January 2024 First A321neo from the new A320 Family FAL in Toulouse.

Airbus delivers first aircraft from Toulouse FAL

Located in the former A380 "Jean-Luc Lagardère" building, the assembly line will help meet demand for the A321neo, which now accounts for nearly 65% of Airbus' A320 Family order backlog.

7 December 2023 EcoPulse during its first flight on November 29, 2023, from Tarbes, France.

EcoPulse aircraft demonstrator makes first hybrid-electric flight

The demonstrator aims to evaluate the operational advantages of integrating hybrid-electric distributed propulsion, with specific emphasis on CO2 emissions and noise level reduction.

15 November 2023 Thomas Sauzé (TGC-France Sales Manager), Laurent Troquet (SONACA Chief Procurement Officer), Laurent Demaret (TGC-France Sales Director), Bertrand Boudart (SONACA Honeycomb Lead Buyer) and Ludovic Watremez (SONACA Purchasing Project Leader).

The Gill Corporation-France secures honeycomb parts deal with SONACA

The contract covers honeycomb parts for flaps on the Airbus A321 and the contract extension to supply machined honeycomb parts for slats on the Airbus A320, A330NEO and A350 programs.

9 November 2023

Airbus taps Advent for hydrogen fuel cell expertise

The project will focus on the needs for future hydrogen-fuelled aircraft, aiming to reduce the weight and volume of the powertrain system through a simplified balance of plant and cooling subsystems.

31 August 2023 Peter Tschentscher, First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, André Walter, Head of Airbus Commercial Aircraft Production in Germany, Anna Christmann, Federal Government Coordinator of German Aerospace Policy and Gary O'Donnell, Head of A321XLR Development, open the new A321XLR Equipment Installation Hangar in Hamburg, designed and constructed in line with latest production and sustainability standards.

Airbus opens A321XLR equipment installation hangar in Hamburg

All the components of the rear fuselages of the A321XLR aircraft, which is also built in Hamburg, will be installed and mounted in the new hangar.

13 July 2023 Laser measurement technology in front of the combustion chamber. The Institute of Propulsion Technology draws on decades of experience in the use of complex laser-optical measurement methods in aircraft gas turbines to enable rapid adaptation to new measurement objectives.

DLR breaks new ground with hydrogen combustion testing

The combustion behaviour of hydrogen is significantly different from that of conventional aviation fuels such as kerosene, and the infrastructure at DLR enables experiments in a realistic environment.

13 July 2023 Final assembly line innovations include digital production control using tablets and smartphones to reduce paper consumption, automated logistics for parts distribution and light-weight robots for joining sections.

Airbus celebrates its second A320 assembly line in Toulouse

The new facility is one of two final assembly lines in Toulouse, alongside four in Hamburg, Germany; two in Mobile, United States; and two in Tianjin, China, all them capable of assembling the A321.

8 June 2023

Airbus selects Astronics PSUs for the A220

The enhanced Passenger Service Units will include updated industrial design, optimised passenger air outlets, latest LED lighting solutions and other design improvements to reduce weight and meet program objectives.

4 May 2023 Perlan is expected to climb to 90,000 feet, a manned level flight record.

Perlan prepares to break altitude records from Argentina

The aircraft will soar to altitudes where the air density is similar to the atmosphere on Mars, providing unique opportunities for aerodynamic studies related to turbulence, extreme weather and future space exploration.

20 April 2023 EcoRudder: Development of a new green sustainable structural aircraft component – a project funded by the European Union's Clean Aviation Research Program under Horizon Europe and led by Airbus. Picture: EcoRudder project partners

Collaboration explores potential for thermoplastic rudder

Four partners will collaborate on the work package in FASTER H2, called EcoRudder, which focuses on the development of a new generation rudder structure for a single-aisle commercial aircraft.

13 April 2023 The A380 provides the flight test platform for the ZEROe demonstrator.

Liebherr focuses on air supply for hydrogen power

Liebherr-Aerospace now aims to design and qualify a safety-of-flight air supply demonstrator, which is able to withstand the integration constraints in an operational environment close to the propulsion system.

23 February 2023 The GKN Aerospace facility in Chihuahua, Mexico.

Mexican expansion will serve business jet makers

The Chihuahua facility currently supplies advanced composite and metal structures, special processes and engineering services for leading aerospace customers including Airbus, Gulfstream and Honda Aircraft.

26 January 2023 Hensoldt has already successfully tested a communications intelligence demonstrator on board a GFD Learjet test aircraft.

Hensoldt pitches SIGINT pod for the Eurodrone

The core elements of the system are a fully digitalised, broadband receiver, an electronically controllable antenna and a condensed structure of the electronic components only made possible by metallic 3D printing.

19 January 2023 Parker Meggitt Energy Buffer

Airbus partners Parker Meggitt for energy buffer

The eBuffer will maximize safety, efficiency and weight while balancing electric and mechanical constraints, as a piece of the electrical system that will complement the Fuel Cell primary power source.

1 December 2022 The ZEROe demonstrator will test hydrogen fuel cell technology.

Airbus plans hydrogen-powered zero emission engine

Ground and flight testing this fuel cell engine architecture should begin onboard the ZEROe demonstrator aircraft towards the middle of the decade. The A380 is currently being modified to carry liquid hydrogen tanks.

1 December 2022 Cross-industry collaboration will be increasingly important in future.

Airbus and Renault team up for electrification research

The agreement will look for the best pathways to move from current cell chemistries (advanced lithium-ion) to all solid-state designs which could double the energy density of batteries in the 2030 timeframe.

1 December 2022

Project combines hybrid-electric and water-enhanced technologies

A new project will combine two innovative technologies - Water-Enhanced Turbofan and hybrid-electric propulsion - with Pratt & Whitney's GTFTM engine architecture.

5 October 2022 The Pratt & Whitney GTF Advantage engine has taken flight on an Airbus A320neo aircraft.

GTF Advantage takes to the air on the A320neo

Engine certification will continue through the first half of 2023, including flights currently under way on the P&W flying test bed in Mirabel, as well as endurance testing to ensure product maturity at entry into service.

9 June 2022 An SLS function is also available on A220 and A330 aircraft families and in progress for the A380.

Airbus delivers SLS capability in the A320

SLS enables pilots to perform 'straight-in' approaches using satellite precision when coming into land at airports, without the need for additional ground-based systems such as ILS, even in low-visibility conditions.

2 June 2022 The Development Simulator “S22” where the A321XLR’s virtual flight-test campaign is being performed in Toulouse. Photo by Hervé Goussé.

Virtual flight testing paves the way for A321XLR take-off

The first of three A321XLR flight test aircraft will be handed over to the flight-test team in the near future. In parallel, ground based testing campaigns are in full swing at various Airbus sites.