Airbus

Airbus has conducted the first test flight of its first US-built aircraft, which took off and landed at the company’s new plant Mobile Aeroplex in Alabama.

The systems, engines and structure performance of the A321 passenger jet were tested during the flight, which lasted nearly three and a half hours.

The inaugural flight was conducted by test pilots Mark McCullins and Bruce Macdonald and they were being accompanied on the flight by flight test engineers Thierry Cros and Nick Picconi, and ground test engineers and cabin specialists Alexander Gentzsch and Mike Johns.

The aircraft will be delivered to US-based budget carrier JetBlue in a few weeks after the completion of its final preparations.

"Together, we are fulfilling the promise we made to the city of Mobile, the state of Alabama, and the Gulf Coast region."

Airbus US manufacturing facility vice-president and general manager Daryl Taylor said: "Together, we are fulfilling the promise we made to the city of Mobile, the state of Alabama, and the Gulf Coast region; we’re creating a new centre of commercial aircraft production in the US.

"This is just the first of many aircraft to come."

Said to be the largest member of the A320 family aircraft, the single-aisle A321 has a range of up to 7,400km/4,000nm and can fly to longer routes.

Airbus has so far received more than 12,400 orders and nearly 6,700 aircraft have been delivered to around 300 customers worldwide.

The company opened the Mobile Aeroplex facility last September.

Image: During its test flight, the aircraft’s systems, engines and structure performance were tested. Photo: courtesy of Airbus.