Air bus bestätigt A 350 Projekt und indirekt AB Bestellung

[Chris99]

Noch eine interessante Meldung zum A350:

WSJ 09/30/04:

 

 

"PARIS -- Airbus is firming up plans for a new plane to combat Boeing Co.'s pending 7E7 widebody jet, escalating the rivals' bruising battle in the jetliner market, just as the U.S. and Europe are threatening a trade fight over aid to the aircraft makers.

 

The new Airbus A350 model would be derived from its current A330 model and pose a direct threat to the 7E7 -- Boeing's first all-new jetliner in more than a decade. Airbus hasn't made a final decision to build the A350, but the company's talks with airlines about the new plane appear to have slowed 7E7 sales, industry officials and analysts say. Boeing said it hasn't seen any indication of slowing sales.

 

Airbus's planning comes as U.S. and European Union trade negotiators are squaring off in Washington today in a dispute over government aid to the plane makers. Boeing is pushing U.S. trade officials to press the EU to cut subsidies for Airbus, in large part to try to prevent exactly what Airbus is thinking of doing: launching a new plane to spoil the 7E7's potential competitive edge.

 

Airbus's thinking about a new plane is particularly important because the Boeing 7E7 -- with a list price of $120 million -- will compete with the A330 in the large, lucrative middle of the jetliner market. Forty-one airlines fly the A330, which was so successful that it has helped push from the market Boeing's aging 767. Now, the Boeing 7E7, which analysts estimate will cost the U.S. aircraft maker $8 billion to develop, has moved Airbus to respond.

 

Managers at Airbus and its main shareholder, European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., say they are seriously considering punching back with a new plane. "We will adapt our products according to what our customers want," said EADS co-Chief Executive Philippe Camus. Airbus Chief Executive Noël Forgeard has said Airbus is studying several options for a new plane and should make a decision by year end.

 

Now, executives say that one of the most serious plans under consideration is a modification of the two-engine A330 widebody, which seats around 250 people, lists for around $160 million apiece and was introduced in 1994. The new plane would compete head-on against long-range versions of the 7E7.

 

John Leahy, the top airplane salesman at Airbus, said demand remains strong for the A330, which can fly as far as 6,700 nautical miles. "We're not replacing the A330," Mr. Leahy said. He said the A350 would offer around 1,000 more miles of range than the A330.

 

He said Airbus is considering launching two versions of the plane, dubbed A350-800 and -900.

Both planes would use the A330 fuselage and have the same cockpit and "type certificate" as the A330, meaning an A330 pilot could fly them without additional training.

 

But they would have a modified A330 wing for improved aerodynamics and use many new technologies that Airbus has developed for its two-deck A380 super-jumbo, which is now entering production. The A350 would also use new, highly efficient jet engines similar to those now being developed for the 7E7 by General Electric Co. and Rolls-Royce PLC.

 

Until recently, Airbus executives dismissed the need for a new model to compete with the 7E7, arguing their 1998 update of the A330, the A330-200, is modern and efficient enough. But under pressure from airlines who have heard Boeing's 7E7 pitch, Airbus engineers this summer started examining ways to modernize the A330.

 

Boeing officials say Airbus's response validates their 7E7 plans. "Two months ago they thought it was irrelevant," said Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive Harry Stonecipher on a visit to Paris last week. "The marketplace surprises you."

 

But Boeing is worried that a rival model from Airbus could undermine the 7E7. Industry analysts estimate the new 7E7, to be delivered by 2008, will cost Boeing $8 billion to develop because the planes will have multiple versions and be built from scratch. Airbus would need to spend at most $2.5 billion to develop a single A350 version based on an existing model in a similar time frame, analysts say. That lower investment means Airbus could sell its plane for less than Boeing's, which would help offset the fact that the all-new 7E7 might be more efficient than the A350..."