Exclusive aircraft sales deals between Boeing and several American airlines contravene European competition law, Airbus Industrie (AI) president Jean Pierson said at the show yesterday.
He called on the European authorities to tackle the airlines - Continental was the most recent - which have signed long-term aircraft supply deals with Boeing.
"We are talking about European law as it is applied in Europe," says Pierson. "These three airlines are operating in Europe so the story is not finished."
He adds that such exclusive deals are not only contrary to law and open competition but damaging to progress in the industry.
In the latest chapter of the transatlantic war of words, Pierson launched a withering attack on Boeing as a manufacturer which has consistently followed AI's innovative approach.
"Can you imagine what the world would be like today if Airbus Industrie did not exist? What would be the future for airlines without Airbus?
"Without Airbus, do you believe the Boeing 767 would exist?" he demands.
That aircraft was a direct response to the AI launch of its widebody twin range.
He adds that he does not believe that the new generation Boeing 737 series - the -700 version is at Paris - or the Boeing 777 series would have been built.
"And do you believe the Boeing 747 growth version will not be built if we go ahead with the A3XX? I bet they will have suddenly discovered a market for 500-seat aircraft," he says.
Appraisal
* Pierson's comments reflect a deeper appraisal of the Boeing/McDonnell Douglas proposed merger contained in a paper partially leaked to the press recently.
He released the full text at the show to clear up the controversy of the earlier leak.
The paper says that the merger "...represents the culminating point of a deliberate strategy, the objective of which is to monopolise in the long term the civil aviation manufacturing sector through the progressive elimination of the only global competitor, Airbus Industrie".
Source: Flight Daily News
