GUY NORRIS / LOS ANGELES
Manufacturer to meet airlines to discuss concepts to compete with Boeing airliner in 200- to 250-seat market
Airbus has begun briefing airlines on advanced concepts to compete with Boeing's proposed 7E7 for the 200- to 250-seat market. The ideas are thought to include all-new and A330-derivative configurations.
The "customer forum" meetings are being held in Atlanta, Frankfurt and Hong Kong, and almost certainly have been timed to counter Boeing's high-profile two-day 7E7 "progress summit" held in Seattle on 12-13 November and which attracted delegates from around 40 operators. No specific details of the forum agendas have been given other than that they are addressing Airbus's "updated view on the 200- to 250-seat market".
Although Airbus is keeping study concepts for this market close to its chest, they are believed to focus on revised versions of the A305/30X configuration that was originally conceived as an A300/A310 replacement after plans for an A330-500 shrink derivative were abandoned.
Industry sources say engine suppliers have been instructed to maintain a low profile for the Atlanta meeting, but are being asked by Airbus to present fuller details of proposed next-generation engine concepts for the 200- to 250-seat market at the Frankfurt meeting. These will be derivatives of the General Electric Gen-X, Pratt & Whitney PW-EXX and Rolls-Royce Trent 7E7/RB262 engine competing for a place on the 7E7. All three engines are "bleedless", to reflect Boeing's more-electric philosophy for the 7E7, and would have to be adapted to suit the conventional bleed air needs of the Airbus family.
Airbus says that it "regularly provides airlines and customers with updates of its view of various market segments...these are part of our normal activities". However, it declines to comment on whether any new product studies or proposals for the 250-seat market will be unveiled during the briefings.
With Airbus giving full priority to the A380, sources say any potential next-generation competitor to the 7E7 would probably not be available until around two years after the new Boeing, or roughly 2010. This suggests Airbus will be more likely to follow the more-electric, bleedless design adopted by Boeing, and would therefore lean more towards new designs rather than a relatively straightforward re-engined A330. Although more costly to develop, this would also provide a stepping-stone towards a next generation 300- to 350-seater family, rather than an interim stopgap solution.
Source: Flight International
