Final assembly line
Also: FAL, final assembly, assembly line
The facility where the major sections of an aircraft, often built at other plants, are joined and its systems installed until it is ready to fly.
What it is
An airliner is built in pieces across many sites. Fuselage sections, wings, tailplanes, landing gear and engines arrive from different factories, sometimes from other countries. On the final assembly line they are joined together, wiring and pipework are connected, systems and cabin are installed and everything is tested on the ground. Painting, test flights and delivery follow.
Airbus, for example, ferries large sections between its European plants aboard its Beluga transporters and assembles the A320 family in Toulouse, Hamburg, Tianjin in China and Mobile in the United States. Boeing builds the 737 at Renton and the 787 in North Charleston.
A line's output is measured in aircraft per month, and raising that rate takes years of preparation across the whole supply chain.
On Vuelopedia
The Manufacturers section maps the builders' factories and assembly lines, and an aircraft's record gives its date and place of manufacture where known.
Related terms
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This page was last updated on October 9, 2026
APA
Vuelopedia. (2026, October 9). Final assembly line. Retrieved October 16, 2026, from https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line
MLA
“Final assembly line.” Vuelopedia, Fundación Poderia, 9 Oct. 2026, vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.
Chicago
Vuelopedia. “Final assembly line.” Fundación Poderia. Last modified October 9, 2026. https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line.
Harvard
Vuelopedia (2026) Final assembly line. Available at: https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line (Accessed: 16 October 2026).
BibTeX
@misc{vuelopedia_en_glossary_final_assembly_line,
author = {{Vuelopedia}},
title = {{Final assembly line}},
publisher = {Fundación Poderia},
year = {2026},
date = {2026-10-09},
url = {https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line},
howpublished = {\url{https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line}},
urldate = {2026-10-16},
note = {Accessed 2026-10-16}
}Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://vuelopedia.org/en/glossary/final-assembly-line |title=Final assembly line |website=Vuelopedia |publisher=Fundación Poderia |date=2026-10-09 |access-date=2026-10-16 |language=en}}