keesje
The Airbus industrial structure is not of infinite size. They have a backlog of 4600 planes to build and deliver.
They don't want another flight test programme until the A350 is finished with.
They don't need another wing production line.
They don't need to fill all the empty spaces you might see on a product line chart.
The A300/A310/762/763 replacements already exist (A330-200/787).
The 757-200 replacement is the A321.
The 757-300 will not be replaced, for some of the reasons USMCProbe explained.
There is no new business out there now that can't be satisfied by the existing products.
P.S. there is not, and never will be, a case for a range-limited small widebody-Lite. Airbus is never going to repeat the mistake of the A310. Simply because the customers who order such a plane spend the next 10 years pleading with the manufacturer for 1000nm, 2000nm more range, which needs major and expensive engineering changes.
.
Last edited by toffeez; 2nd Feb 2013 at 13:46.