The shining new jet was pictured rolling out from station 40 of the Airbus Toulouse production site in France in the morning of September 23, 2020 on its way to station 35. The aircraft, carrying assembly number MSN 272, is the last Airbus A380 to be produced.
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
According to Airbus, station 40 is where the aircraft’s outer wings are joined to the centre fuselage and wing. Its next stop, station 35, is where the A380 will have its fuselage riveted together along with the installation of its stabilizers, landing gear and engine pylons. After that, the aircraft will be tested and validated at station 30.
As of September 23, 2020, the station 40 seems empty as reported in social media.
The station 40 is now empty forever, no more A380 to assemble… pic.twitter.com/ny6HZ8ZEph
— Aviation Toulouse (@Frenchpainter) September 23, 2020
The station 40 was to be converted into an Airbus A321 family Final Assembly Line (FAL), as outlined in the company’s plans on January 21, 2020, after a surge of new orders that followed the 2019 Paris Air Show. However, the plan was postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 crisis.
The jet is set to go to the Emirates, by far the largest operator of the aircraft family worldwide, and will push its A380 fleet to a total of 123.
The first superjumbo (registered 9V-SKA) was introduced on October 25, 2007, when the Singapore Airlines (SIA1) (SINGY)’ flight SQ380 took off from Singapore to Sydney, Australia.