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Europe

Airbus to up spending on new A350

2006-11-05

Thanksgiving's coming.

Airbus plans to increase spending on a proposed long-range jet made of lightweight carbon by 20 percent to $12 billion, said two people with direct knowledge of the proposal.

Because throwing good money after bad always works.

A new design for the A350 plane will be presented to Airbus parent company European Aeronautic, Defence & Space on Tuesday, said the sources, who declined to be identified before an announcement. The A350 is Airbus' sixth attempt to create a competitor for Boeing's 787, which has won 402 orders.

"They really don't have a choice about doing it, if they want to be competitive with Boeing over the long term," said Phil Finnegan, an analyst at Teal Group, a consulting company in Fairfax, Va. "The big issue is, do they have the engineering talent to deal with the launch of the A350 as they're dealing with the problems of the A380?"

In July, Airbus said the A350 would cost $10 billion. The new concept would be made 50 percent from carbon fiber to reduce weight and save on fuel, airlines' biggest expense after labor, the sources said. Boeing's plane, known as the Dreamliner, is 50 percent carbon fiber by weight, and 20 percent more fuel efficient than planes it replaces, according to Boeing.

The new A350 XWB wouldn't enter service until at least 2013, a year later than previously planned and five years after the 787 is expected to fly.

Posted by:Steve White

#8 It does look cool. Thanks for the pretty pictures, Zenster dear.

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-11-05 18:06

#7 Too many issues related to passenger psychology.

While I understand your point, MD, if 600-800 passengers (instead of only 500) can be fit into a craft which occupies the same traditional 80 meter box required for compatibility with existing jet ramps and docking facilities, the airlines will have no choice. People will just have to get used to a whole new appearance to their aircraft. Here is a good link on blended wing technology.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-05 16:59

#6 What will they do when faced with Boeing's blended wing solution?

As cool as this concept is, I doubt it will ever be built. I hope I am wrong, but I just can't see it. Too many issues related to passenger psychology.

Posted by: Mick Dundee 2006-11-05 16:09

#5 I wonder where they will get the $12 billion.

Saudis and Dubai, I suspect. In the form of prepaid orders or such.

Posted by: lotp 2006-11-05 11:04

#4 I wonder where they will get the $12 billion. It certainly won't be coming from profits generated by the A380 - there won't be any. Borrowing it from banks seems unlikely since banks will want to see a large number of pre-orders for the A350 to demonstrate the financial viability of the plane, but airlines will be reluctant to trust Airbus's ability to deliver a newly developed plane on schedule again after the A380 fiasco. That only leaves government funding which has been the source of acrimonious WTO disputes with the U.S. This should be interesting.

Posted by: Biff Wellington 2006-11-05 11:02

#3 Anyone else get the feeling that Boeing is acquiring a taste for European lunches? Funny how us capitalist wage slaves just keep whupping ass on these socialist utopians.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-11-05 03:25

#2 Ask for more government money?

Posted by: Classical_Liberal 2006-11-05 02:10

#1 What will they do when faced with Boeing's blended wing solution?

Posted by: 3dc 2006-11-05 01:16

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