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Airbus is leaning toward building a new plant in Mirabel within about two years to speed up production of the jetliner formerly known as the C Series.

The proposed pre-assembly facility will be tasked with preparing complete sections of the A220 plane before they are moved to the final assembly line. A decision on whether to proceed with the investment will be make in the coming weeks, according to Philippe Balducchi, chief executive officer of the Airbus Canada Limited Partnership.

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“Our goal with this pre-assembly facility is to protect the final assembly line,” Balducchi told the Montreal Gazette Thursday in a telephone interview from Toulouse, France, where Airbus is based. “We are very probably going to build this pre-assembly facility, and we will do it in Mirabel.”

The new line will probably start operating sometime around 2021, Balducchi said. Airbus has ample land in Mirabel to expand, he added.