not long before airbus takes over boeing in delivery numbers.
personally i dislike the airbus products.
Boeing to be overtaken by Airbus
It may take many years to regain top spot
(PARIS) Boeing Co, which by the end of 2003 will be overtaken by Airbus SAS as the world’s No 1 planemaker for the first time, may take years to regain the top slot as the European company accelerates its lead in orders and deliveries.
Boeing will introduce its first new plane in 2008 at the earliest, should the Chicago-based company decide later this year to build the Dreamliner, a twin-engine aircraft with at least 200 seats. Airbus has introduced new versions of two planes in the past two years. Its 555-seat A380 will fly in 2006 and has won commitments from 11 customers for 129 planes, Airbus said.
Airbus, based in Toulouse, France, has said it will deliver 300 planes this year and may deliver as many as 315, according to internal plans, compared with 280 for Boeing. It has won new contracts for 238 aircraft versus 157 for Boeing. The US planemaker has proposed a half-dozen new planes since 1990, abandoning all because of a lack of demand.
‘Airbus’ fleet of planes is newer and more up-to-date,’ said Alan Beaney of Sevenoaks-based Principal Investment Management Ltd. A new plane from Boeing would add ‘a bit of competition’, he said.
The Dreamliner, also known as the 7E7, would have a range of 7,600 miles. It is designed to replace ageing Boeing 757s and 767s and compete against Airbus’ twin-engine A330 series. It would be the first new Boeing jet on offer since the 777 in 1990.
‘We are getting good reaction from the airline industry,’ said Boeing chief financial officer Mike Sears at a briefing in London recently. ‘We expect by the end of this year to have board approval to offer the airplane.’
If the Boeing board gives the go-ahead, the planemaker will try to get commitments to buy the plane from airlines early next year, then line up engine and parts manufacturers to invest in the project and share the risk. Boeing has not said how much the project will cost or what it will charge for the planes. It has said new technologies will cut development and production expense. The Dreamliner is expected to use 15 to 20 per cent less fuel than current models.
Paul Nisbet, an analyst at JSA Research, figures the total development costs for Dreamliner at US$6 billion to US$8 billion. He said he expects Boeing itself to shoulder 50 to 60 per cent of the total and get the balance from risk-sharing partners. Mr Nisbet expects Boeing to launch the plane and predicts Boeing shares will rise ‘into the 40s’ once that happens. Shares traded recently around US$35.
‘We have expressed an interest in the 7E7, but we’re equally interested in the Airbus mid-range aircraft,’ said Karen Franklin, a spokeswoman for British Airways plc. Talks with Boeing and Airbus are in ‘very initial stages’, she said.
John Leahy, Airbus’ chief salesman, said he doesn’t expect to see the 7E7 launch by year-end and that the plane would be no better than an existing Airbus product, the A330-200.
‘I do believe that Boeing needs to do something to update the 767-300 and -400,’ Mr Leahy said. ‘We’ve got about 85 per cent of the market now compared to an airplane that used to dominate the market, but using today’s technology, what Boeing will build will be an airplane that may be better than the 767, but that will be very similar to the A330-200.’ – Bloomberg
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