PrintOctober 30, 2006
Airbus: Good News and Bad News
It's no joke, but there is good news and bad news for Airbus, manufacturer of the thrice—delayed (for a total of two years) A 380 ultra—jumbo airliner, Moby Jet, as I like to term it. First, the good news.
— Airbus has signed an agreement with Chinese authorities to assemble its twin engine, single aisle A 320 jetliner in Tianjin, China, along with a preliminary order for 170 aircraft (150 in some reports), worth about $18 billion at list prices, the largest single order in its history.
— Additionally, China has indicated it will purchase 20 copies of the promised new A 350XWB medium size widebody airliner, intended to compete with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, whose order book is filled for years. The XWB is re—do of an earlier A 350 design that was rejected by many potential customers as a mere derivative of the existing A 330 twinjet medium widebody, not competitive with the all—new Boeing aircraft. The XWB itself may be delayed. ...(Read Full Article)
