Airbus plans €600-900 million pylon factory near Toulouse

Airbus plans to invest between €600 and €900 million in a new engine pylon factory at Cornebarrieu, near Toulouse, with production expected to start in 2031. The plant could employ around 3,500 people towards 2037, when it reaches full capacity, according to French media reports.

The facility will rise on a 48-hectare (118-acre) greenfield site that Airbus already owns, in the municipality of Cornebarrieu. The location sits close to Airbus' main industrial complex adjacent to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS), keeping pylon manufacturing inside the group's core aerospace cluster.

What does the project change for Airbus?

The pylons — the structures that connect engines to the wing — are critical components for every jet Airbus builds. The new factory, named "Saint-Éloi du futur", would give Airbus dedicated capacity for these parts at a time when its assembly lines are expanding to absorb record backlog demand.

The name references Airbus' historical "Saint-Éloi" plant in central Toulouse, which also develops and manufactures engine pylons. The new site effectively extends that legacy operation onto fresh ground with far more space.

The timeline is long but specific. A public consultation process will run between November 24, 2026, and February 16, 2027 — the first formal step toward construction. If the project clears all planning and regulatory requirements, construction could begin around 2029, with production envisaged for 2031.

Why Toulouse, and why now?

Airbus frames the investment as a response to strong market demand for new aircraft. The company has been adding assembly capacity in Toulouse to match. In June 2026, Airbus activated a second A320 family assembly line in the city, installed at a site previously occupied by the A380 line.

A second driver may be the relocation of work closer to home. Following its acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems assets in December 2025, Airbus announced its intention to move production of jet pylons for the A220 airliner from Wichita, Kansas, to Toulouse. The new Cornebarrieu plant would provide the industrial footprint for that transfer.

What happens next?

The figures give a sense of scale: up to €900 million of capital, 3,500 jobs at full capacity, a 48-hectare site, and roughly four years between the planned start of construction around 2029 and first production in 2031. That is a substantial industrial commitment anchored to Airbus' core Toulouse cluster.

The immediate milestone is procedural rather than industrial: the public consultation opening on November 24, 2026. Only once that process and the subsequent planning and regulatory hurdles conclude will the construction schedule firm up — and Airbus, which AeroTime has contacted for comment, will then have to convert a 2031 start date into actual pylon output.