Andrzej Jeziorski/MUNICH
Germany's bids for the final assembly of the proposed Airbus A3XX large airliner have become entangled in political arguments over the preferred site for the work.
Daimler-Benz Aerospace Airbus (Dasa Airbus) has put forward its Hamburg-Finkenwerder plant as a prime German candidate, competing against a potential site at Rostock, on the Baltic. Also in the running are Seville, Spain, Toulouse and St Nazaire in France, plus the latest German proposal of Peenemünde on the island of Usedom, formerly a launch site for the German V-1 and V-2 "flying bombs" in the Second World War.
The Dasa Airbus proposal has sparked an environmental controversy, as it would require the filling of the Mühlenberger Loch, a lake by the Elbe river. Despite this, the proposal has been backed by the social democrat and the newly pragmatic Green party, a decision greeted with scepticism by ruling Christian Democrat faction chief Ole von Beust, who says that the possibilities of further developing the Hamburg site are limited, and instead backs Rostock.
Rostock's East German location would also offer lower land and personnel costs, says von Beust.
Dasa Airbus says that, wherever the assembly takes place, it must be at a coastal site to allow the transport by sea of heavy components. It adds that the assembly site will be chosen only after a formal go-ahead for the programme in 1998 or early 1999. The decision will be based on many factors, including programme share - which remains uncertain, as Airbus is still looking for new partners in the project.
The company adds that the A3XX assembly line would create 4,000 new jobs at the selected site and among suppliers. Hamburg now houses the final-assembly lines of the single-aisle A319 and A321, and maintains ambitions to take over A320 final assembly from Airbus' Toulouse site.
Dasa Airbus chairman Gustav Humbert says that the company's turnover is expected to reach DM4.9 billion ($2.9 billion) this year, an improvement of 44% over 1996. Airbus deliveries are expected to reach 186 aircraft in 1997, compared with 126 in 1996, and up to 250 in 1998.
Source: Flight International
