Airbus Converting Former A380 Wing Facility in Wales for A321 Wings

BROUGHTON, Wales — Airbus is investing £150m to convert its former A380 wing production facility in Broughton into an A321 wing line, the manufacturer announced on September 21. It expects the work to be complete by the end of 2026.

The refurbished facility will house six wing production jigs, an equipping line, and a paint shop. Airbus says it is designed to feed an A320 Family backlog of around 7,500 aircraft, about 75% of which are A321s. Work on the first wing is underway, and all six jigs are expected to be operational by the end of the year.

The facility's A380 wing work ended in early 2020. The final pair was due to leave Broughton on February 6 and 7, 2020, to be shipped to France for final assembly, Air Data News reported at the time.

Why Airbus Needs More A321 Wings

Airbus expects to reach an A320 Family production rate of between 70 and 75 aircraft a month by the end of 2027, stabilizing at rate 75 after that, according to its half-year results. With the A321 making up roughly three-quarters of the family's backlog, as Airways reported when Airbus held its 2026 delivery target in July, the ramp-up depends heavily on the largest variant.

"We aren't just talking about a ramp-up; we're putting the infrastructure in place to support it," said Jerome Blandin, head of Airbus Wing. "This investment is important for jobs, important for the region and important for our global ramp up towards rate 75."

Airbus's announcement does not say how many wings a month the six jigs will produce, or whether the new line adds to or replaces existing A321 wing capacity at Broughton.

250 Jobs in the Refurbished Facility

Airbus is creating around 480 jobs across the Broughton site in 2026, including 250 in the refurbished facility. They add to a workforce of about 6,000 at the site, which Airbus calls its "Home of Wings." Airbus says employees across the site helped shape the new line's ergonomics and technology integration.

Belfast Expansion Supports the A220

The Broughton project follows a separate UK wing investment. Airbus said on August 19 that construction had started on an extension of about 67,000 sq ft (6,221 sq m) at its Belfast wing facility. The extension will hold a third autoclave and specialized wing tooling to support A220 production of 13 aircraft a month by 2028. It is scheduled for completion in the first half of 2028.