Thailand’s King and Queen conclude historic state visit to France with tour of Airbus
Their Majesties the King and Queen travelled from Paris to Toulouse on Wednesday, where they visited the Airbus facilities, including the Airbus Delivery Centre, the A350 Final Assembly Line and the Airbus Pilot Training Centre.
Their Majesties were welcomed by French Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot, Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury and other senior executives during the visit. They received briefings on Airbus’s operations, the future of the aviation industry and the company’s cooperation with Thailand, before observing key stages of aircraft assembly.
The King also took part in a 30-minute A350 flight simulator session over the Toulouse and Pyrenees region, before being presented with a Pléiades Neo satellite image by Airbus.
Later, at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, Their Majesties attended a farewell ceremony featuring a French military guard of honour, before departing for Thailand aboard a Thai Airways aircraft, concluding their official state visit to France which began on 28 June at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The visit marked the third state visit to France by a Thai monarch and coincided with the 170th anniversary of diplomatic relations, reaffirming the friendship spanning over 340 years between the two nations.
Airbus is a leading European aerospace company and one of the most influential aviation corporations in the world. Its headquarters are located in Blagnac, a suburb of Toulouse in southern France, which serves as the hub for the company's commercial aircraft operations. Its primary mission is the management and oversight of the commercial aircraft manufacturing process.
The Airbus headquarters comprise executive offices, engineering centres, aircraft hangars, flight test centers and final assembly lines for several major aircraft models, including the A320, A330, and A350.
Furthermore, it serves as a key operations base for the Airbus Beluga, the company's oversized cargo aircraft. Resembling a white whale, the Beluga is used to transport aircraft components between various factories across Europe.