AIRBUS INDUSTRIE has identified three priorities for the expansion of its A330/A340 range by the end of the century. The European consortium says that the move will give it the "best possible position" in the medium- and long-range markets within five years.
The 14,800km (8,000nm)-range A340-8000 will be available from the first half of 1997. Adam Brown, vice-president forecasting and strategic planning, says that the aircraft will be capable "...of changing the whole pattern of airline operations across the Pacific".
Next in line for launch is a longer-range, reduced-capacity version of the A330, the A330M10, its fuselage shortened by ten frames, targeted for service entry in early-to-mid-1998. Finally, the long-awaited stretched A340 is being mooted for possible service entry in mid-2000.
Airbus president Jean Pierson describes the current airliner market as "cutthroat". He adds: "The fight is on for each and every order."
Pierson says, that Airbus is "near" its target of achieving delivery of a single-aisle aircraft, nine months after signing an order, with a 12-month gap for twin-aisle types. "We'll reach it by June 1996...and we do not intend to stop there," he says.
The new A340-8000 is, says Brown, designed to answer the market's demand for "an efficient, medium-sized aircraft able to fly far enough to link distant city-pairs" such as Australia and Europe. Based on the shorter fuselage A340-200, it will be configured for high-yield passengers, and possibly incorporate beds on the lower deck to cater for journeys lasting up to 18h.
Pierson says that the A340-8000 would be available two years before the planned 16,000km-range Boeing 777-100X.
Reducing the capacity of the A330 to 240 passengers would create an aircraft with "more attractive passenger accommodation" than the Boeing 767-300ER, says Brown, with increased payload/range capability, better take-off performance and lower direct-operating costs. Range would be up to 11,000km, with a wing based on the high-gross-weight A340, due to enter service with Singapore Airlines early in 1996.
The same wing would also enable the consortium to offer a growth version of the standard A330, offering a "significant" increase in payload and range, says Brown.
Stretching the A340 will require higher-thrust engines, and a decision on launch needs to be taken "within a few months" if the end of the century in-service date is to be met. This, in turn, could lead to a re-engine "growth" A340-8000, capable of being flown around the world with just one stop.
Airbus is also "taking steps" to return the A310 to its original concept, to satisfy what it sees as a "growing market for 200-seaters on regional and transcontinental routes", which Brown says are "precisely the types of route for which it was originally conceived". The aircraft has "outsold itself" in its role as a hub bypassing long-range wide-body, he added.
Source: Flight International
