MOBILE, Ala. — Airbus made it official today, announcing it will build an assembly plant in Alabama to make passenger airplanes, giving the European aerospace giant its first foothold in the United States to compete with archrival Boeing.

The plant is expected to cost $600 million to build and will employ 1,000 people when it reaches full production, likely to be four planes a month by 2017. It also will create about 2,500 construction jobs, officials have said.

“We are going to create great jobs and generate growth right here,” Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier said at the convention center in Mobile, where many of the 2,000 people in attendance waved American flags.

Airbus and Boeing have long battled to dominate the global aviation industry.

Airbus, based in France, planned to build refueling tankers for the U.S. Air Force in Alabama, but its parent company, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co., lost the contract to Boeing in 2011.

While Airbus had parts plants in the U.S. before, a full-fledged plane-making factory is a more significant presence and could help it boost its share of U.S. commercial and defense contracts.

Boeing is already a longtime employer in Alabama.