Alabama officials congratulated Airbus during a ceremony Wednesday for progress on a growth project to ramp up aircraft production and add 1,000 workers at the company’s Mobile manufacturing facility.

Gov. Kay Ivey said the expansion, launched last year, represents a milestone for Airbus, which announced plans for the Alabama facility in 2012 and has been in constant growth mode ever since.

“The relationship between Airbus and Alabama is a shining example of what can be accomplished when great organizations join hands,” she said. “Airbus, a global leader in the aerospace industry, has placed its trust in Alabama … and, folks, we are rising to the occasion.

“This is ‘Team Alabama’ at its best — government, industry and community coming together to support a vital pillar of our state’s economy.”

Ivey said the addition of 1,000 jobs at the Airbus facility will push total employment there to 2,800.

Gov. Kay Ivey speaks at a celebration to mark progress on an Airbus growth project to add a new aircraft assembly line and 1,000 workers at the company’s Mobile production facility. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

The Airbus manufacturing facility in Mobile celebrates an ongoing expansion that will effectively double the plant’s production space and add 1,000 jobs. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

Airbus’ Daryl Taylor speaks at a celebration to mark progress on a growth project to add a new aircraft assembly line and 1,000 workers at the company’s Mobile production facility. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

The Airbus manufacturing facility in Mobile celebrates an ongoing expansion that will effectively double the plant’s production space and add 1,000 jobs. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

The Airbus manufacturing facility in Mobile celebrates an ongoing expansion that will effectively double the plant’s production space and add 1,000 jobs. (Hal Yeager / Governor’s Office)

New A320 FAL

The centerpiece of Airbus’ expansion project, announced in May 2022, is the addition of a 350,000-square-foot A320 Family final assembly line (FAL) to ramp up production of the in-demand passenger jet.

Overall, the growth plans include more than a dozen new structures that will add 1 million square feet of space to Airbus’ U.S. manufacturing facility, effectively doubling the plant’s production area.

Airbus is targeting the third quarter of 2025 for completion of the expansion project, which follows the addition of the FAL for A220 aircraft.

“This just felt like the right time as we really put the big pieces of it in the ground,” said Daryl Taylor, Airbus’ senior vice president of Commercial Operations in Mobile. “We will have the capacity to double the output we have today.”

Bob Smith, the Alabama Department of Commerce’s aerospace specialist, said Wednesday’s expansion ceremony underscores the rapid growth that’s unfolding on the Airbus campus at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley industrial park.

“This is really the next step in the project that will add the third Final Assembly Line in Mobile,” Smith said. “In 2025, 1,000 more Alabamians will have an opportunity to build the finest commercial aircraft in the world.”

Since entering Alabama, Airbus has invested more than $1 billion in its Mobile manufacturing facility.

“As we break ground on this new chapter in Alabama’s aerospace journey, let us celebrate this achievement and look forward to a future where our state continues to be a leader on the global stage,” Ivey said.

“The best of us, of Alabama, is still yet to come.”

This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website. WKRG contributed to this report.