Continuing uncertainty over the status of South African Airways' (SAA) order for four Boeing 777-200s is providing Airbus Industrie with an ongoing opportunity to pitch the new A340-500 and -600 to the South African flag carrier.
Airbus senior commercial vice-president John Leahy took the opportunity of the show to make a public pitch once again for the A340-500/600 as better suited to SAA's route needs.
The consortium says that it is continuing to provide technical data to SAA on both variants as an alternative to the Boeing 777.
Boeing, unsurprisingly, writes off the Airbus efforts as merely attempting to fan the flames of a long dead competition. It warns, however, that there are penalty clauses in the contract, "as well as a considerable amount of money from SAA already in the bank".
Despite selecting the Boeing 777 in preference to the Airbus A340-200/300 in 1995, SAA has been deliberating over the wisdom of the decision and has yet to make an engine selection, or to agree a revised delivery schedule for the Boeing aircraft.
The order for four 777s, with a further three on option, has become mired firstly in a change of personnel at Transnet, the state- owned owner of SAA, and now by the planned privatisation of the airline later this year. The South African carrier is also believed to have set up a task force to look at all aspects of its operations, including aircraft purchases.
Source: Flight International
