Reuters
Airbus says looking at new jet opportunities
Monday August 30, 9:12 am ET
PARIS, Aug 30 (Reuters) - European plane maker Airbus SAS said on Monday it had begun looking at developing a new jet, after a report in the Sunday Times newspaper said the company was planning a rival to Boeing's planned 7E7.
Airbus declined to comment on whether it was actively working on a new derivative of its A330-200 that would compete directly with the fuel-efficient, mid-range 7E7, as the paper reported.
But the jet maker said that with major development work on its 555-seat A380 superjumbo nearing completion, it was actively assessing possibilities for another jet.
"Now that the A380 is coming close to its first flight and the major development phase is nearing completion, we are starting to look at what is next," said Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht. "There are various options. It is premature to say anything else."
Since Boeing gave the final go-ahead for the 7E7 in April, analysts have expected Airbus to respond with a derivative of its A330-200, which itself is only six years old.
Its A380 is due to enter service with airlines in the first half of 2006 and make its first test flight by mid-2005.
Boeing's 7E7, dubbed the Dreamliner, is scheduled to arrive in 2008. The U.S. company plans to use new, lighter materials and more efficient engines to make it less costly to fly.
The Sunday Times article said Airbus engineers had already begun work on a new plane, tentatively named the A350. The paper said the plane would be based on the A330-200, but have modified wings and engines. It said Airbus had talked with engine makers about the plane.
At the Farnborough air show last month, the chief executive BAE Systems, which owns 20 percent of Airbus, said he believed recent threats from Boeing over alleged state subsidies for Airbus were a ploy to hamper the European company's ability to develop a rival to the 7E7.