MOBILE, Alabama -- Airbus will announce Monday in Mobile its plan to build A320 aircraft at the city's Brookley Aeroplex, opening a new era of jet production in Alabama and giving the European company its first production site on U.S. soil.

Multiple company, state and local officials confirmed that an agreement was in place to bring Airbus to Mobile, and that company president Fabrice Bregier was scheduled to announce the project at a 10 a.m. news conference at the Mobile Convention Center.

Details of the assembly plant -- including the construction timeline, projected employment and capital investment -- remained confidential. But a company source with direct knowledge of the project said it would produce the A320neo (the acronym stands for "new engine option"), a single-aisle jet designed to replace its best-selling A320 narrowbody.

A state official who participated in the negotiations said plans call for an initial work force of about 1,000 and that the company would spend several hundred million dollars to construct the plant. Alabama will contribute more than $100 million in tax breaks and other incentives, the official said.

Clay McConnell, a spokesman for Airbus Americas, said today that the company "has nothing to announce at this time." He said Airbus has long had an interest in expanding in the U.S., and that Mobile was its preferred site for any potential investment.

"A number of conditions would need to be met to expand our industrial footprint in the U.S., and as of right now those conditions have not been met," McConnell said.

State and local officials were tight-lipped about the project, with several saying they had signed agreements with the company not to disclose any information. Others said they received phone calls from the company today inviting them to participate in the announcement and a subsequent news conference.

The New York Times and Bloomberg news service, both citing unnamed sources, also reported today that an announcement from Airbus may be imminent.

The Press-Register obtained copies of invitations to a private dinner with Bregier and local elected officials on Sunday at the Battle House Hotel. Other VIPs were invited to a private breakfast Monday with Bregier at the downtown hotel.

Invitations also were extended to executives from the major U.S. airlines and from top suppliers including Pratt & Whitney, GE Aviation and CFM International, among others.

Airbus, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., already does business in Mobile, employing about 200 at an aerospace engineering center at Brookley. The company also employs about 30 at an Airbus Military hangar at Mobile Regional Airport.

Several employees leaving the Airbus engineering center at Brookley on Wednesday said that they had been told not to comment about the project because no official announcement had been made.

The A320 plant would elevate Mobile into an elite group of cities that produce large aircraft. Airbus assembles planes at its corporate headquarters in Toulouse, France, and in Hamburg, Germany. The company opened its first production line outside Europe in 2008 when it began assembling A320 jets in Tianjin, China.

Chicago-based Boeing, Airbus’ top rival in the commercial market, builds its jets in the Seattle area. In April, the company unveiled the first 787 Dreamliner made at its Charleston, S.C., assembly plant.

The Mobile plant would help Airbus balance its financial risk against global currency swings and give the company a major competitive advantage over Boeing in race to win orders from commercial airlines, according to experts.

It also would likely create thousands of jobs at suppliers and support businesses spread across the Gulf Coast.

George Freeland, executive director of the Jackson County Economic Development Foundation, said Mississippi was already gearing up to recruit suppliers at the Farnborough International Airshow, which opens July 9 near London.

"We’ve understood for some time that the Airbus announcement concerning its intention to build commercial liners in Mobile is imminent," Freeland said.

The A320neo was introduced to customers in 2010 and immediately racked up sales at a record pace, with more than 1,300 firm orders so far. The single-aisle plane can carry up to 200 passengers and is listed at $97 million. The first planes are scheduled for delivery in 2015.

The A320neo’s direct competitor is 737 Max, introduced by Boeing in 2011. The plane is in development with first deliveries scheduled for 2017.

"Airbus is already two years ahead of Boeing, and if they can add some (production) slots they should be able to steal some orders away," said aerospace analyst Scott Hamilton. "Because of the backlog, the only way to get more sales going is to expand production."

Airbus touts its A320 family of jets as the undisputed best-selling aircraft of all time, with nearly 5,000 in operation by airlines around the world and another 3,200 on back order.

Brookley, a former Air Force base closed by the Pentagon in 1969, has long been eyed as a prime site for aircraft production. The 1,700-acre complex has ready access to rail lines, highways and the Port of Mobile.

Boeing in 2004 named Brookley as a finalist for a 787 production line but ultimately chose to locate the project in Everett, Wash.

Airbus and EADS developed close ties to the city beginning in 2005, when the companies selected Brookley as the site of a proposed $600 million plant that was designed to produce refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force. That project, which was to include production of Airbus A330 freighter jets, was scrapped in 2011 after Boeing beat EADS for the tanker work.

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Updated at 9:20 p.m. to include employment information, analyst comments and additional background