The investment required for Airbus to build its A3XX 480/650-seat airliner family has been officially pushed up to $10 billion, as a result of a change in Airbus' accounting process.
Until now, the manufacturer has maintained that around $8 billion would be needed to fund the new family, despite doubts by industry observers who believed that this was a conservative estimate.
Airbus managing director Noel Forgeard confirms the consortium has now calculated that no less than $10 billion would be needed. He says that the increase could be attributed to the inclusion of all factory retooling costs. Airbus has also revised downwards the level of outside investment sought. It has been publicly seeking 40% of the funding externally, but now says it is targeting 30-35%.
Source: Flight International