Airbus Industrie and Rolls-Royce are engaged in a concerted final push to enlist sufficient airline orders for a launch of the new A340-500/600 growth derivatives.
The European consortium is understood to be keen to launch the two ultra-long-haul and stretched versions of the A340 by mid-November. Airbus sales executives and president Jean Pierson have embarked on a final lobbying effort to swing undecided carriers.
Since the aircraft was officially offered in June, Airbus has secured commitments for 13 A340-500/ 600 orders for delivery from 2002, but this not enough for a final go-ahead. It has signed letters of intent with Air Canada for five A340-500/600s plus ten options and with Virgin Atlantic for eight A340-600s and another eight options.
Airframe and engine manufacturer efforts are now being directed at least six key international carriers, consisting of Egyptair, Emirates, EVA Airways, Lufthansa, Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Swissair. Each airline is in the final stages of an evaluation, and three already operate earlier versions of the A340, and have options to purchase more.
In the case of EVA and SIA, the two Asian carriers are expected to decide shortly between the A340-500 and Boeing's proposed ultra-long-haul 777-200X. EVA is discussing an initial order for six aircraft, which it requires to operate non-stop to Europe and the US East Coast.
Although EVA has an all-Boeing fleet, Taiwanese sources says that there is some concern over whether the 777 will have sufficient thrust to take off with maximum payload from New York's restricted Newark Airport all-year round.
Airbus and Boeing have been similarly struggling to meet SIA's requirement for an aircraft to operate 16,260km (8,790nm) non-stop between Singapore and Los Angeles. As neither aircraft fully complies with the airline's original evaluation rules, the number of specified seats has been lowered from 206 to between 190 and 195. It may also relax fuel-consumption deterioration from 4% to 3%.
Source: Flight International
