Spirit AeroSystems has opened a new manufacturing facility in Kinston in North Carolina, US.
The 500,000ft² facility will be used for the design and manufacture of composite centre fuselage upper and lower shells (section 15) and the front wing spar for the Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.
In May 2008, Spirit won an Airbus contract to design and produce the A350 XWB’s composite fuselage structure, which will be about 65ft long and 20ft wide, and weigh nearly 9,000lb.
Fuselage components manufactured at the North Carolina facility will be shipped for assembly an another new Spirit facility in France.
The spar, a wing structure made of composite material weighing over 2,000lb and measuring about 105ft long, will be shipped to Spirit’s UK operations for integration into the wing-leading edges before being shipped to Airbus.
Design work has been underway for about two years, while the manufacturing process will begin immediately.
