Mr Forgeard was quoted saying he expects to announce firm orders for at least 100 A350 aircraft for the paris airshow,and 150 firm orders by christmas

Really? That’d be much needed good news for Airbus. I was starting to think they should scrap the project and concentrate instead in a successor for the A320…

No, what I am trying to say is as follows: The alleged superiority of 787 vs. A350/330 is not large enough to warrant an All-Boeing Deal. $7 billion is a lot of money for a low-income country like mine.

My dissapointment is unrelated to the Tpoic of this thread – it has to do with US military supplies to the region just a little while ago, not with the techical abilities of the 787.

Well there certainly seemed to be a lot of pressure from the US government…

From the article Sandy posted earlier:

The issue [of the 50-airplane purchase and Airbus’ protests] became even more sensitive when US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice took it up with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during here recent visit to India. Even US transportation secretary Norman Mineta emphasised on the issue while he was in Delhi to sign the India-US ‘open skies’ agreement.

I mean, it’s not as if the US government were in the business to apply “friendly” pressure on foreign countries and industries to get what it wants, is it? :rolleyes:

I was late at work this morning because I just had to watch the take off live. I know it wasn’t fully loaded but it still took off very quickly and effortlessly.

Anyone who is an aviation enthusiast, and specially anyone who is European should be very proud this amazing plane and milestone.

So guys, next time anyone feels like having a go at the A380’s “ugly nose” remember that aircraft makers are in the business of making planes efficient, not good looking… 😉

Surely “the product that met the airline’s requirement most adequately”?

Is it me or the foreground wing looks out of proportion and shape in that illustration? 😀

If that is the case then I don’t think Airbus has much grounds to complain. It’d be silly for Boeing not to make the most of the 787’s capabilities!

I’d like to know more about this… Was there some kind of “gentlemen’s agreement” between the two companies whereby similar, competing models would base their offering configurations on the same number of seats abreast?

What’s the width on the A330? Can it accommodate 9 abreast?