Airbus weighs second A350 line and stretched A350-2000

Airbus is weighing a second final assembly line for the A350 and expects to decide soon on a stretched variant, the A350-2000. Lars Wagner, who heads the company's civil aircraft division, told journalists in Toulouse on Wednesday that the market is clearly asking for more aircraft and that an increase in the A350 production rate is unavoidable.

The single A350 line, in Toulouse, is limited to twelve aircraft a month. Wagner said adding a second line is an important decision that will go to the board, and that this would happen sooner rather than later. He did not comment on where a second line might be located.

The A350 family has seen several changes. The ultra-long-range A350-1000ULR made its first flight in June, and the A350F freighter flew for the first time at the end of September.

Airbus had open orders at the end of September 2026 for 11 A350F, 519 A350-900 and 253 A350-1000 aircraft. The manufacturer does not publish a current production rate, though group chief executive Guillaume Faury indicated to suppliers in July that it could be running at eight to nine A350s a month. In 2025 the company delivered 57 aircraft, 42 A350-900s and 15 A350-1000s, an average of just under five a month. The target for 2028 is a rate of twelve a month.

Asked about a longer version of the A350, Wagner did not give a decision date, but the stretched model is seen as increasingly likely.