Airbus has delivered the first aircraft assembled at its U.S. Manufacturing Facility in Mobile, Alabama. The aircraft — an A321 that made its first flight on 21st March — was formally handed over to JetBlue on 25th April, three years after work started on the new production site.

Airbus announced its commitment to build a single-aisle assembly line in Mobile in 2012, and less than one year later, broke ground on the $600m facility. The ceremonial inauguration of the plant came in September 2015.

There are currently nine other A320 Family aircraft in production at the facility. Airbus anticipates delivering four aircraft per month from the Mobile plant by the end of 2017. Initial deliveries will all be A320 Family aircraft with the current engine option (ceo). The transition to the new engine option (neo) derivative will start in late 2017. Airbus aims to be producing a total of 60 A320neos per month by mid-2019.

Mobile is the fourth Airbus production facility worldwide, after Hamburg, Germany; Toulouse, France; and Tianjin, China.