Development costs for the Airbus A320neo will be slightly more than €1 billion ($1.3 billion) and the aircraft's list price will be $6 million more than existing models.
Airbus chief operating officer for customers John Leahy says the additional $6 million list price includes $3.5 million for modifications to the airframe and around $900,000 for the addition of 'sharklet' wing-tips.
Leahy brushes aside criticism from lessor Aircastle's chief executive, Ron Wainshal, that the A320neo will have a negative impact on the residual value of existing A320 models.
"Residual values will be affected in a positive way because [the A320neo programme] keeps A320s in production for much longer," says Leahy, adding that all-new aircraft programmes "trash" residual values.
"We expect significant orders from major lessors," adds Leahy.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
