GE to Open A350XWB Wing Composites Facility in UK

GE Aviation’s aerostructures division has started building a 97,000-sq-ft composites factory at Hamble in the UK. The work is part of a $50 million investment at the site to support its role in making wing components for the new Airbus A350 XWB airliner and is due to be completed in early 2015.

The new facility will allow GE to increase output of wing fixed trailing edge components for the A350-800, A350-900 and A350-1000 models, reaching the capacity to deliver 13 shipsets per month. The work is the largest contract in the Hamble plant’s 75-year history, comprising 3,000 components that include structural composite panels and complex machined assemblies.