Mike Martin/DUBAI
Airbus Industrie has no ambition to gain a market share powerful enough to put Boeing out of the civil aircraft business, the European manufacturer said at Dubai 2000 yesterday.
"The market is best served if there is a balance between Boeing and Airbus Industrie," says John Leahy, Airbus senior vice-president, commercial. "The intention is to have 50% each. Some years it will be 60-40 in favour of one or the other.
"But we have no intention of having 75 or 80% of the market and putting Boeing out of business. It's not healthy for competition."
Price and production constraints will see parity between the world's big two civil aircraft manufacturers, he says. Airbus Industrie is moving its production ceiling up to 375 aircraft a year, while Leahy says he expects Boeing to reduce output to a similar level.
His comments come on the back of latest Airbus Industrie figures which show the European company with a 65% market share on all aircraft types (over 100 seats) during 1999. Leahy says the firm has 404 orders (as of 10 November) against Boeing's 220. The value of Airbus orders this year is $26 billion against Boeing's $16.3 billion.
In the Middle East, the Airbus run of success continues, with its share moving from 75% in 1997 to 94% last year. The company had captured 100% of the market this year, until the Boeing order announcement yesterday.
Turning to the A3XX family of very large, 555-656-passenger double deck family of aircraft, Leahy says it should "come to market, perhaps next year."
Source: Flight Daily News
