MOBILE – Airbus test pilots this morning began the maiden flight of the company’s first Alabama-made A321 passenger jet, embarking on a three-hour mission designed to evaluate the plane’s performance and systems.
The flight began shortly after 9:30 this morning from the airstrip at the Mobile Aeroplex, the site of Airbus’ new $600 million U.S. manufacturing facility. The A321, sporting the logo and colors of its eventual owner, JetBlue Airways, was scheduled to return to the Aeroplex around 12:30 p.m.
Airbus posted updates on the test while it was under way over the Gulf of Mexico.
‘MAJOR MILESTONE’
Governor Robert Bentley
Alabama officials welcomed the news of the flight as another important development for the state’s aerospace sector. The flight was also a long time coming: While Airbus announced plans for the Alabama manufacturing facility in 2012, the relationship between the state and the France-based aviation giant goes back more than a decade.
“It is a major milestone in the history of aviation manufacturing in Alabama to see the first Airbus aircraft produced in Mobile to schedule its first test flight,” Governor Robert Bentley said today.
“This test flight is standard procedure before delivering an aircraft to a customer. Aerospace and aviation industries are extremely important to Alabama, and it is exciting to know soon JetBlue will receive its first A321 proudly Made In Alabama,” he added.
Mediar Release/The Alabama Department Of Commerce
