Toulouse is home to Airbus’s main final assembly line for the A380.
Airbus assembled the A380 at its Jean-Luc Lagardère site in Toulouse, France. The aircraft’s enormous size required a distinctive industrial arrangement: major sections were produced at facilities across Europe and transported to Toulouse for final assembly. The completed aircraft then underwent testing and preparation before delivery to customers.
The A380’s parts came from several Airbus production locations, including Broughton in Wales, Hamburg in Germany, Saint-Nazaire in France, and Getafe in Spain. Specialized road, river, and sea transportation moved the components through what became known as the Airbus Beluga or “Itinéraire à grand gabarit” logistics network.
Hamburg is strongly associated with the A380 because it handled important cabin completion and delivery work. It was not the main final assembly location. Airbus ended A380 production after delivering the final aircraft in 2021, but Toulouse remains central to Airbus wide-body manufacturing history.