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The World Trade Organization on Wednesday faulted the European Union for providing cheap loans to Airbus to help lower its cost for developing new airplanes and take market share from Boeing Co. It's a clear victory for the Chicago-based manufacturer, providing the company with precedence to disrupt similar funding for the up-and-coming A350XWB, which will compete with its 787 Dreamliner. It could also help the company to score a $35 billion U.S. contract to replace the military's aging aerial-refueling fleet. "The ruling shows the WTO works and it can understand the aerospace industry," said Teal Group analyst Richard Aboulafia, who...

Emirates picks Airbus A350 in $35 bln mega-deal Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:33 AM GMT DUBAI (Reuters) - Dubai-based airline Emirates (EMAIR.UL: Quote, Profile , Research) chose the Airbus A350 XWB over Boeing Co's (BA.N: Quote, Profile , Research) rival 787 airliner on Sunday, taking 70 of them to cap an order that could be worth almost $35 billion at list prices. The deal included options to potentially buy an additional 50 A350s as well as an order for 11 A380 superjumbos as Emirate's extended its lead as the largest customer for the world's biggest airliner. It also bought 12...

With the Paris Air Show less than a week away, Airbus has so far been unable to lure crucial customers to its proposed A350 jetliner despite making sweeping changes to the plane a year ago, giving rival Boeing Co. a major opportunity to cement its market dominance for the next decade. Airbus had hoped to shore up its credibility with customers before the industry's most closely watched trade show of the year. Five years behind Boeing in developing a new midsize long-haul jetliner, Airbus has booked only 13 firm orders for the A350, compared with nearly 600 for Boeing's 787...

Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways has signed a memorandum of agreement to buy 80 Airbus A350XWB twin-jets, including the largest version, the A350-1000. The agreement, signed in Paris today, covers 20 A350-1000s, 40 A350-900s and 20 A350-800s with deliveries from 2013. It supersedes a 2005 deal – made before Airbus redesigned the A350 – under which Qatar Airways was to take 60 of the type, a mix of A350-800s and -900s. The carrier had intended to equip these with General Electric GEnx engines; as yet there is no GE engine for the revamped A350XWB, and no engine selection has been...

Airbus is set to make yet another design change to its A350 XWB, this time dumping composite panels on an aluminum frame for an all-composite barrel. Pressure from major customers such as Emirates and ILFC is believed to be the catalyst for the pending revamp. News of the move, first flagged by this website in January (ATWOnline, Jan. 26), comes the same week that Boeing started final assembly on the 787. While Emirates President Tim Clark told media the Dreamliner's finish resembled "a polished silver coffeepot," Airbus has been getting mixed reaction to its composite panel concept. Trade studies have...

PHOENIX — John Leahy may be getting gentler. But he's still the ultimate believer in Airbus. Airbus' chief commercial officer and supersalesman said Monday he's hearing from suppliers that Boeing's 787 could be up to six months late. Though he'd prefer that didn't happen, he added. "In this particular case, misery doesn't love company," said Leahy, "We wish them well, to get an airplane out the door on time." Leahy called the A350, Airbus' challenge to the new Boeing jet, a "world airplane," because, like the 787, it will be built in large sections around the globe. And he predicted...

European manufacturer ready to renew Boeing battle following industrial launch of A330-200F and A350 XWB Airbus may not have been able to produce a surprise winning hand in the order battle for the second year running, but as it loses the order crown to Boeing for the first time in six years, it is confident it can put the trials of 2006 behind it. With its armoury now up to full strength following the industrial launch of the A330-200F and A350 XWB, Airbus has declared itself ready to fight back. Although Boeing's 1,044 net orders soundly beat Airbus into second...

With its industrial launch secured, Toulouse releases more details of the new twinjet that will take on the 787 Airbus still has a number of loose ends to tie up on the design of the A350 XWB in the coming months, as it prepares to go into battle with a definitive specification for the new twinjet to overhaul the huge sales lead that the Boeing 787 has generated. These include finalising the structural configuration, securing a second engine option to accompany the agreement already signed with Rolls-Royce, and agreeing the allocation of work and build responsibility. The airframer released a...

As 787 Matures, Boeing Says Efficiency Improving Aviation Week & Space Technology 12/11/2006 Author: Michael Mecham With 90% of its detailed design elements completed, Boeing says it is finding the mid-size 787 has a 2-3% better economic performance than the 20% overall gain it originally predicted. The improvements are most prominent in predicted maintenance costs, although the airplane is "a bit better on fuel burn" as well, says 787 General Manager Mike Bair. Boeing has forecast that the 787 will have a 20% better fuel burn than the 767 it is replacing. The new improvements have become evident as the...

By now I'm sure you've read that Airbus has gotten the official okay to go out and launch the latest version of the Airbus A350 - the 2nd industrial launch for this airplane in 14 months. And in general, it doesn't appear to be much different from what was announced at Farnborough. The only significant differences that we see at this point are in the areas of: Timing Composites Airbus says we won't see the first A350-900 until 2013 - which is a year later than previously announced. The first A350-800 is now scheduled for 2014, and the first A350-1000...

Airbus kicked off a 10 billion euro ($13.2 billion) plan Monday to build its A350 XWB wide-bodied jet, which is designed to compete with Boeing's successful 787 and boost the fortunes of the troubled European planemaker. CEO Louis Gallois told a news conference that the A350 will be funded through the savings generated by a painful cost-cutting plan, from cash flow and from Airbus' partners. The cost-saving plan was announced in the wake of delays to the A380 superjumbo and management turmoil that has shaken the company and its parent, the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co. EADS approved the...

Planemaker says it will build a re-engineered version of the jet to take on Boeing that would enter service in 2013. PARIS (Reuters) -- Airbus parent EADS decided Friday to go ahead with a new mid-sized jetliner to strike back at Boeing in their fight for market share and restore pride shattered by delays to its A380 superjumbo. The pan-European company said its board had agreed after months of uncertainty to build a re-engineered version of the A350, the "extra-wide-bodied" A350 XWB, after an earlier version flopped in competition with Boeing's 787 Dreamliner. The market for such 200-350-seat jets is...

EADS is thought to be poised to give the green light to the €10 billion (£6.7bn) Airbus A350XWB airliner programme as early as today. The go-ahead for the project was delayed last week after the French government blocked a proposal from parent company EADS’s two major industrial shareholders, Lagardère and DaimlerChrysler, to tap the capital markets and new institutional investors to raise funds for the venture. Instead, France wanted to inflate EADS’s capital base by raising its own stake in the Airbus parent company, an idea opposed by fellow investors. The setback was a blow for Louis Gallois, the new...

Shareholders at Airbus parent EADS are looking at alternative ways of funding the proposed Airbus A350 XWB widebody twin, which could signal an end to controversial launch aid for the programme. EADS cancelled last week's board meeting where shareholders were due to discuss the industrial launch of the A350 XWB, a €9-10 billion ($12-13 billion) project controversially at the heart of the ongoing transatlantic dispute over support for large aircraft. The meeting was cancelled due to a reported lack of agreement among EADS shareholders DaimlerChrysler, Lagardere and the French government over launch aid, with France thought to be reluctant to...

Shareholders in the Franco-German aerospace group EADS are at war after the Paris government said it wanted to increase its stake in the company to fund development of a new long-range A350 aircraft for its Airbus division. EADS cancelled a board meeting yesterday when France indicated it would block a proposal by the company's two main industrial investors to raise a substantial amount of the aircraft's €10bn (£6.78bn) launch aid from the capital markets. Giving France a higher stake in EADS risks upsetting the delicate political and commercial balance. The French state and Lagardère own 29.99pc through a holding company....

The go-ahead for Airbus’s crucial A350XWB airliner project has been delayed after the French government blocked a proposal from parent company EADS’s two major industrial shareholders, Lagardere and DaimlerChrysler, to tap the capital markets and new institutional investors to raise funds for the venture. France’s fellow investors are understandably lukewarm on that first big decision to be taken by new Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois, has been pushed back. Instead, France wants to inflate EADS’s capital base by raising its own stake in the Airbus parent company, an idea which has met a lukewarm reception from its fellow investors, sources...

Shareholder concerns over the funding of the Airbus A350XWB programme has meant Airbus parent EADS has reportedly cancelled a board meeting scheduled for today. The meeting, which was scheduled to take place in Toulouse to decide on the industrial launch of the A350XWB, was cancelled at the last minute yesterday evening, reports French business daily Les Echos. An employee of EADS shareholder Lagardere confirms the meeting has been cancelled, but was unable to immediately give further details. DaimlerChrysler declined to comment, while EADS could not immediately be reached. Citing industry sources, the report claims the reason for the cancellation is...

IRBUS would decide before the end of the month on whether to go ahead with its A350 jetliner, with the launch dependent on the success of a restructure, chief executive Louis Gallois said today. The A350, a long-haul mid-sized plane, has been drawn up by Airbus as a competitor for Boeing's popular 787 Dreamliner and 777 long-haul planes, but its development costs have been estimated at $US10 billion-$US12 billion ($13bn-$16bn). Mr Gallois said the A350 program depended on implementation of a restructuring plan aimed at slashing production costs, cutting jobs and streamlining suppliers to the Toulouse-based group. "We will not...

In what would be a radical change of course for the company, Airbus may switch to a composite fuselage for its next new jetliner. It would mark the sixth time that Airbus has changed plans as it scrambles for the right airplane to not only challenge The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner but possibly leapfrog the 777. The two Boeing planes are dominating sales for jets that seat from about 250 to 350 passengers. Airbus may present its latest A350 design to the board of its parent company, EADS, next week, according to a published report. "If they are reconsidering the...

In what would be a radical change of course for the company, Airbus may switch to a composite fuselage for its next new jetliner. It would mark the sixth time that Airbus has changed plans as it scrambles for the right airplane to not only challenge The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner but possibly leapfrog the 777. The two Boeing planes are dominating sales for jets that seat from about 250 to 350 passengers. Airbus may present its latest A350 design to the board of its parent company, EADS, next week, according to a published report. Airbus might propose a composite...

Airbus is moving toward another radical rethink of its A350 XWB that may include a composite fuselage that will combat the 787 and leapfrog the 777-200ER. According to Airbus insiders, the latest revision will push the A350's entry into service to at least 2014. The manufacturer unveiled a radical upgrade of its A350 offering at the Farnborough Airshow (ATWOnline, July 18) with a cabin 12 in. wider than the A330 cabin cross-section and an all-new carbon fiber wing capable of Mach 0.85 cruise. However, key customer ILFC flagged caution. Chairman Steven Udvar-Hazy told ATWOnline that Airbus has "pretty much done...

Airbus is unlikely to break even on the A380 superjumbo jet for at least another decade, as massive cost over-runs linked to the delay of the twin-deck plane push back the timetable for recovering development costs, company figures released Thursday indicate. . . snip . . . "The A350 is doomed," said Doug McVitie, managing director of Arran Aerospace, a consulting firm in Dinan, France. "If this is the schedule for the A380, I don't see how they are going to be able to finance it."

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways launched a long-awaited competition on Tuesday to replace its fleet of 114 long-haul Boeing aircraft, a move that could generate crucial orders for Boeing's rival Airbus. Europe's third-biggest airline, which wants to take delivery of the first new planes by early 2009, said it was too soon to say how many planes it would acquire, although analysts said the bill would be at least $7 billion. An early order date could benefit Boeing, since Airbus is struggling to launch its proposed new mid-sized A350 model -- now set for 2012 deliveries at the earliest --...

The fate of a rescue plan for Airbus hung in the balance over the weekend amid a power struggle between its chief executive and his bosses at European Aeronautic Defense & Space over how much independence Airbus's management should retain. According to three people with direct knowledge of the situation, the disagreements between the two sides are significant enough that Christian Streiff, who became chief executive at Airbus in July, is poised to resign after losing the support of top EADS executives. One person said Streiff could depart as early as Monday.

Airbus CEO Christian Streiff admitted that the manufacturer now is up to a whole decade behind rival Boeing, while parent EADS co-CEO Tom Enders conceded that it no longer may be feasible to pursue the A350 XWB program. The revelations came yesterday as Airbus continued to deal with the fallout from Tuesday's announcement that the A380 will be delayed an additional year and the company will undergo a radical restructuring dubbed "Power8" aimed at slashing overhead costs by 30% (ATWOnline, Oct. 4). Streiff told Le Monde that his review of Airbus operations has uncovered serious production inefficiencies. "It will take...

By David Kaminski-Morrow in Farnborough Singapore Airlines has signed a letter of intent to purchase 20 Airbus A350 XWBs and a further nine A380 aircraft. The carrier’s agreement, revealed at the Farnborough air show, also includes options on another 20 A350s and six further A380s. Deliveries of the A350s – which will be the -900 version – will begin in 2012 and run to 2014. The additional A380s will be delivered from late 2008 and run to 2010. No engine selection has been given for either type. The value of the agreement for the 29 firm aircraft is put at...

Airbus, desperate to pull out of the worst dive in its commercial history, on Monday released details of a radically redesigned midsize plane in a $10 billion project to compete with the Boeing 787. snip. . . Airbus intends to begin development of the new jet in October, and the plane is expected to enter service in mid-2012.

Airbus today revealed the cost of developing a rival to Boeing's mid-sized 787 jet soared to $10 billion (£5.5bn) after the struggling European planemaker announced a radical revamp of its A350 project at the Farnborough International Airshow. Following pressure from airline executives who were unenthusiastic over earlier designs, Airbus will scrap a fuselage it has used for decades and will offer three wider-body (XWB) variations of A350 – rather than the two originally planned. The revisions mean the cost of the A350 XWB, designed to take on Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, have now almost doubled to $10 billion. The original estimate...

European aerospace firm, EADS, will this week launch a drive to restore its credibility before the world’s aerospace industry at the Farnborough Air Show in Hampshire. The centrepiece will be a flying display by the A380 super-jumbo – the world’s biggest airliner – along with a series of presentations by Airbus, the airliner manufacturing subsidiary that accounts for 80% of EADS profits. Instead of launching the A350 medium-sized long-haul plane with which it hopes to compete with Boeing’s hot-selling B787 Dreamliner, as it had earlier hoped, Airbus’s new boss Christian Streiff, will update airlines on overhauling the A350 design. Thomas...

Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:42 AM ET By Jason Neely, European Aerospace & Airlines Correspondent LONDON, July 14 (Reuters) - Airbus will expand its offering of two new mid-sized planes to three in order to catch up with surging rival Boeing Co. , industry sources said on Friday. Worried that its pair of proposed A350 models aimed at competing with the Boeing 787 due in 2008 will do little to slow sales of Boeing's larger 777, France-based Airbus will add a third, larger model. "They are definitely looking at doing three," one industry source said, adding that the new planes...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Boeing Co. could twist the knife into struggling European rival Airbus next week. The U.S. planemaker is set to dominate Britain's Farnborough air show with a stream of new orders for its 787 Dreamliner and other jets, which are already outselling its main competitor four-to-one. The timing could not be worse for Airbus, whose five-year reign as the world's leading commercial jet builder looks likely to end after slow sales of its delayed A380 superjumbo and indecision over its mid-sized A350. "Boeing's spent the last few Farnborough and Paris airshows getting away from the whole...

The truth that the A350 was a dead duck finally hit home in Toulouse. The design was torn up earlier this year, and work started on an all-new plane, codenamed A370. Now, the board of EADS, which met on Friday, has “suspended� the launch of this aircraft, with a likely development cost of E8bn, twice that anticipated earlier. The decision underscores the scale of the strategic errors made by Airbus. Founded 36 years ago to provide an umbrella beneath which the national aerospace companies of Britain, France, Germany and Spain could achieve economies of scale and compete effectively with...

EXECUTIVES of Europe’s aircraft manufacturer Airbus were engaged this weekend in another crisis. They had hoped to unveil the design of their new A370 aircraft this week on the eve of the Farnborough Air Show. The “launch” of the new plane, which is even more critical to the company’s future than its troubled A380 super-jumbo, had been pencilled in for 14 July until British partner BAE Systems announced it was triggering a full audit of the Toulouse-based European planemaker. On Friday, the launch of the mid-sized jet was suddenly suspended to allow new chairman Christian Streiff to “review” the troubled...

LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - The biggest aircraft leasing firm, International Lease Finance Corp. (ILFC), has warned it might cancel deals to buy the Airbus A380 superjumbo and the planned A350 model, contracts worth more than $5 billion at list prices. "We could cancel and are considering cancelling all or some of our A380 order ... We are not happy and on safe ground to cancel the order," ILFC Chief Executive Steven Udvar-Hazy told financial newswire Bloomberg. A delay of up to seven months for the A380 announced last week and blamed on wiring complications has angered customers, sparking calls...

Seattle: Boeing has decided to manufacture a large version of the B787 or Dreamliner following demand from Emirates and other Gulf carriers, a top official of the US aerospace giant said. Mike Bair, Head of Boeing's 787 programme, said Boeing will introduce the 787-10 in late 2010 with Emirates likely to be the first Gulf customer. "We are working with Emirates to understand what exactly and how big the plane should be and we have a pretty good understanding," he told a select group of Middle East reporters at the Boeing facilities here. "We are in the midst of...

US Airways is taking a relaxed view of Airbus’s indecision on the A350 design, even if it results in the carrier’s order for 20 of the type being scrapped. In a memorandum to employees, the airline’s president and chief executive Doug Parker says US Airways management understands Airbus “is having internal debate as to whether or not they shouldn’t start over on the A350”. He adds: “If they come back with a new aircraft, great. If they don’t and we don’t have an order any more, that’s fine. The merger’s done and [Airbus has] been paid back, so everyone’s happy.”...

Airbus could lose its largest and most prominent A350 customer, Qatar Airways, because of its indecision over the aircraft’s configuration and the likelihood that it will adopt an all-new design. The Qatari flag carrier – currently an all-Airbus operator – last year became the lead A350 customer when it announced at the Paris air show that it intended to order 60 of the twinjets for delivery from 2010 after an evaluation that included the rival Boeing 787. Although the airline later began to firm up the deal by signing a letter of intent for the 60 aircraft, it has held...

Airbus says A350 customer feedback came 'a bit late' and admits to two year delay on new design By Justin Wastnage in London Airbus has taken a swipe at potential and existing customers for its A350 long-range twinjet for failing to supply timely feedback during the development effort, admitting that any newly-designed variant could not be ready until at least 2012. In a hard-hitting interview with UK broadcaster BBC in its Hard Talk series, Airbus chief operating officer, Charles Champion, says the airframer "underestimated how much our customers wanted a competition between Airbus and Boeing with a new product from...

Airbus could lose its largest and most prominent A350 customer, Qatar Airways, because of its indecision over the aircraft’s configuration and the likelihood that it will adopt an all-new design. The Qatari flag carrier – currently an all-Airbus operator – last year became the lead A350 customer when it announced at the Paris air show that it intended to order 60 of the twinjets for delivery from 2010 after an evaluation that included the rival Boeing 787. Although the airline later began to firm up the deal by signing a letter of intent for the 60 aircraft, it has held...

Airbus has taken a swipe at potential and existing customers for its A350 long-range twinjet for failing to supply timely feedback during the development effort, admitting that any newly-designed variant could not be ready until at least 2012. In a hard-hitting interview with UK broadcaster BBC in its Hard Talk series, Airbus chief operating officer, Charles Champion, says the airframer "underestimated how much our customers wanted a competition between Airbus and Boeing with a new product from our side". He adds that "constructive criticism" that Airbus welcomes during the development phase of any new aircraft came "a bit late, maybe"....

BERLIN -- Airbus expects to decide before July on the final design of its A350 airliner, parent company EADS said Tuesday as it reported a 26 percent rise in first quarter net profit. Airbus is considering significant modifications to the wide-body A350, its planned rival to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, after criticism from airlines and jet leasing companies. The A350, which has lagged in sales, would have a new wing and new engines, but not a new and wider fuselage like the 787. Some customers, notably Singapore Airlines and International Lease Finance Corp., have said Airbus should look at an...

LONDON/MOSCOW, May 8 (Reuters) - Russian airline Aeroflot's (AFLT.RTS: Quote, Profile, Research) decision to delay a $3 billion plane order amid chilled U.S.-Russian relations has sparked speculation it will pick Europe's Airbus (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) over U.S. rival Boeing Co. (BA.N: Quote, Profile, Research). U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney criticised Moscow's commitment to democracy and its policy on energy reserves last week, adding to friction caused by Washington's tough stance on Russia's bid to enter the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The 51-percent government owned airline is set to retaliate by deciding to buy 22 of the Airbus A350 model...

Promise follows complaints from potential buyers Tuesday, April 11, 2006 THE NEW YORK TIMES PARIS -- Airbus said Monday that after receiving complaints from potential buyers, it would look at making improvements to its long-range A350, which competes with the Boeing Co.'s new 787 Dreamliner. "I want to note that Airbus listens to its customers," Gustav Hubert, Airbus chief executive, told reporters at company headquarters in Toulouse, France. His comments came after Chew Choon Seng, chief executive of Singapore Airlines, said last week that Airbus should have gone ahead and designed a new fuselage for the A350, since it had...

Aviation giant Boeing (NYSE:BA - news) said on Friday it hoped to win a $3 billion contract to deliver 22 new long-haul planes to Russia's flag carrier Aeroflot, even if its rival Airbus (EAD.PA) has offered a discount. The tender pits Boeing's latest B-787 "Dreamliner" jets against Airbus A-350 aircraft, and Russian media have speculated that Airbus offered Aeroflot (AFLT.RTS) a $100 million discount to win the contract. Senior Airbus officials have called their bid "unique," but declined to say if they really offered a discount. Craig Jones, a Boeing vice-president in charge of sales in Russia and the CIS,...

The Boeing Co., the world's second-biggest maker of commercial aircraft, is in talks to sell as many as 17 of its new 787 airliners to Russian carriers, not including OAO Aeroflot, the largest, a Boeing executive said Friday. Boeing hopes to sell "up to" 15 of the planned model to one Russian airline and two 787s to another, Craig Jones, Boeing's vice president for sales in Russia, told reporters in Moscow, declining to identify the carriers.

Airbus has done it again. On Jan. 17, the European planemaker reported that it booked 1,055 net aircraft orders in 2005, just ahead of the 1,002 logged by Boeing in a record-breaking sales year for both companies.

Airbus’s chief salesman John Leahy may be having some quiet time to himself to ponder the loss of the Qantas deal on his way back from Sydney. For a senior colleague had joked prior to the announcement that, if Leahy did not return from Australia with the order, he should “come back by boat”. Although Airbus has had a great year sales-wise, with almost 700 orders so far across its range, it must be frustrated by the advantage that Boeing has gained in the widebody markets as the 777 and 787 rack up the orders at the expense of the...

PHOENIX -- US Airways Group Inc. has ordered 20 Airbus A350 planes honoring its promise to buy the fuel-efficient aircraft aimed at trans-Atlantic flights as part of a financing deal for the airline's acquisition by America West Airlines. Airbus SAS announced the binding order on Tuesday but did not disclose the financial terms. At list price, the 20 planes would be worth an estimated $4 billion, but buyers of multiple planes often get discounts. The European aircraft maker provided financing to help America West Holdings Corp. complete its purchase of US Airways, a deal closed in late September. As part...

As plane deals go, this could well be the biggest prize in recent memory. In December three major Asia-Pacific carriers are expected to place orders for more than 100 widebody jets worth an estimated $16.8 billion. And by the looks of things, Boeing Co. (BA ) looks poised to supply most of the planes.

Flight International online news 09:00GMT: Next week is expected to see the winner emerge of one of the toughest battles in the war between the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 when Aeroflot announces which aircraft type it has selected. The company is due to reveal the successful bidder on Thursday 3 November, awarding business with a list value not far short of $3 billion. “We are looking at taking deliveries starting in 2009,� says director for route network management Alexander Kanischev. “Our long-term plan envisages acquiring up to 22 long-range passenger aircraft.� If the airline decides to go with Airbus,...