Tag: mid (Page 2 of 3)

Airbus Faces Cabin Comfort Dilemma in A321XLR Jet Launch

June 17, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus has broken records by launching the longest-range narrow-body jetliner at the Paris Airshow, but planemakers are having to rethink their mantra on comfort as they squeeze ever more miles out of jets designed for shorter trips.

Airbus and Boeing have been promoting new carbon-fibre long-haul aircraft such as the 787 Dreamliner and A350, which offer roomier cabins and help passengers avoid jet lag by providing a cabin pressure closer to that felt on the ground.

But they have also been adding more range and capacity to older and narrower models such as the A320neo family and the 737 MAX as airlines demand more flexibility with the advantages of highly efficient single-aisle planes, supporting low fares.

Airbus pushed that further on Monday by adding a longer stride to the A321neo with its new A321XLR, whose range of 4,700 nautical miles leapfrogs the out-of-production Boeing 757 and nudges it into the long-jump category enjoyed by wide-body jets.

It also eats into a range category targeted by a possible new mid-market twin-aisle jet, the NMA, under review by Boeing.

But there is a debate over whether passengers will enjoy flying longer distances in medium-haul planes, or at what price.

Airline bosses on the long-haul low-cost panel at the Paris Air Forum on Friday differed over whether extended-range narrow-body jets or wider twin-aisles were best suited for their growing industry.

In particular, the rise of the single-aisle long-distance jet involves revisiting years of industry marketing about the benefit of escaping jet lag and fatigue on long trips.

Aircraft cabins are pumped to a higher pressure than the ultra-thin outside air at cruising altitude. But the pressure is still lower than at sea level due to structural limitations.

That’s not a problem for shorter trips but travel experts say the higher altitude setting on older planes can contribute to jet lag on long flights, worsening the effect of time zones.

WELL BEING

Although Airbus stresses the 1980s-designed A320 fuselage is wider than the competing 737 MAX and therefore has roomier seats, it also has a lower cabin pressure than modern long-haul alternatives like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner or Airbus A350.

On those airplanes the cabin is pressurised at a level equivalent to 6,000 feet compared with 8,000 feet for the A320 and most other metal-built jets of all sizes.

For the Airbus A330neo wide-body jet the cabin altitude is above 7,000 feet but still below 8,000 feet.

“XLR cabin pressure could be an issue,” said an airline executive who has studied the plane, asking not to be named.

The company itself set out the disadvantages of flying with a high cabin altitude on long journeys when it launched the business-jet version of the A320neo family in 2015.

“A lower cabin altitude makes most sense on long flights, especially towards their end, when an aircraft is able to reach its highest cruising altitude,” Airbus said then on its website.

For the business jet version, Airbus was able to lower the cabin altitude below 6,400 feet. But it could only do so by reducing the maximum number of trips, which matters relatively little to luxury operators but is less attractive to airlines.

That said, cabin pressure is one of many factors influencing the feel of a cabin and is rarely marketed separately.

“Everyone is pushing the ‘well being’ trend … but an A321XLR will arguably be more comfortable than a 9-abreast Boeing 787,” passenger experience expert John Walton said, referring to denser seat configurations used by some airlines.

Placing the first order for the XLR, leasing magnate Steven Udvar-Hazy, executive chairman of Air Lease Corp, said: “We are working on a number of improvements in the cabin to accommodate long-haul operations”.

The A321XLR is expected to be able to fly around eight hours in most cases, linking U.S. eastern cities deep into Europe.

The head of International Airlines Group’s low-cost long-haul carrier Level, Vincent Hodder, told the Paris Air Forum the XLR could be configured to fly as long as 10 hours. Level and others are studying it, he said.

Airbus is chasing potential customers including American Airlines and JetBlue for the XLR and aims to grab up to 200 orders. It is expected to announce a deal with U.S. airline investor Indigo Partners later this week.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher, Editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Potter)

Alaska Mid-Air Seaplane Crash Leaves 6 Dead

May 14, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) – Searchers found the bodies of the last two Alaska seaplane crash victims on Tuesday evening, after a hunt through the debris and frigid waters following a mid-air collision that left a total of six people dead and 10 injured, officials said.

“The last two people were found. They were found deceased,” said U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Matthew Schofield.

The discovery of the bodies closes the search at the scene where the two seaplanes crashed after colliding over the inlet waters near Ketchikan, in southeastern Alaska, Schofield said.

Work at the crash site will now shift to an investigation into what led the two planes, which were ferrying Princess Cruises passengers on sightseeing expeditions, to strike each other and fall into the waters of George Inlet.

A team of 14 National Transportation Safety Board investigators has been sent to the site and divers will start working on Wednesday to pull up the wreckage of the two planes.

The two missing people, an Australian and a Canadian, were among 14 passengers from a Princess Cruises ship who boarded two seaplanes operated by separate tour companies in the town of Ketchikan on Monday, the cruise line said.

A 14-member team from the NTSB began investigating the crash on Tuesday and is unlikely to determine the cause during the week the team will be at the scene, NTSB board member Jennifer Homendy told a news conference.

Ten people survived but were injured in the collision, which took place over open water during daylight, the Coast Guard said. The dead include one of the pilots. The victims were not immediately identified.

Three of the injured were in serious condition and seven in fair condition, Dr Peter Rice, medical director of the PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center, told a separate news conference.

The water temperature off Ketchikan on Tuesday was 48 Fahrenheit, according to the National Weather Service. Expected survival time in 40-50F (4-10C) is one to three hours, according to the United States Search & Rescue Task Force website.

The investigators will be collecting information from the survivors, the Federal Aviation Administration, any other witnesses who might have been in the area, flight logs, training records and other sources, including the wrecked planes, Homendy said.

“We still have to recover the planes and then we have to look at those. It takes some significant work to really understand how the two came together,” she said.

All of the planes’ passengers arrived in Ketchikan on the cruise ship Royal Princess during a seven-day trip between Vancouver, British Columbia, and Anchorage, Alaska, Princess Cruises said.

Ten passengers and a pilot were aboard one float plane, a de Havilland Otter DHC-3, operated by Taquan Air. Four passengers and a pilot were aboard the second float plane, a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver, run by Mountain Air Service of Ketchikan.

The crash site, at Coon Cove about 300 miles (480 km) south of Juneau, Alaska’s capital, lies near a tourist lodge that runs excursions to the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument.

Ketchikan-based Taquan Air said the plane was returning from a sightseeing tour of Misty Fjords when the crash occurred.

Reporting by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage; additional reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Bill Tarrant, Cynthia Osterman and Leslie Adler

Textron Profit Beats on Higher Aircraft Sales

April 17, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

FILE PHOTO: Cessna employee works on an engine of a Cessna business jet at the assembly line in their manufacturing plant in Wichita, Kansas March 12, 2013. REUTERS/Jeff Tuttle

(Reuters) – Cessna business jet maker Textron Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, benefiting from robust aircraft deliveries, sending its share up 1.6 percent in early trading.

Business jet demand has been growing steadily in the United States, the world’s biggest market, on the back of an expanding economy and rising corporate profits.

Textron said it delivered 44 jets in the first quarter ended March 30, up from 36 last year. Commercial turboprop deliveries rose to 44 aircraft from 29 last year.

“We think this quarter has pretty much ticked all the boxes for Textron. Aviation growth has continued, with a positive book to bill in the quarter,” Vertical Research Partners analyst Robert Stallard said.

Textron has faced delays in final certification of its newest super mid-size Longitude jet, which is expected to contribute a ‘big chunk’ to the company’s revenue growth in 2019.

Analysts have warned that the certification delays from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration due to partial government shutdown followed by the regulator’s intense focus on re-certifying Boeing Co’s 737 MAX aircraft might impact sales growth at the company in the short.

Though the aviation business was among the drivers for a profit beat, Textron’s revenue missed Wall Street estimates, hurt by lower sales in its systems unit, which makes tactical armored patrol vehicles.

Textron re-affirmed its full-year profit outlook range of $3.55 to $3.75 per share.

Sales in the company’s aviation business, its biggest, rose 12.3 percent to $1.13 billion in the first quarter, while sales in the systems unit fell more than 20 percent to $307 million.

The company’s net income fell to $179 million in the quarter ended March 30 from $189 million a year earlier.

Textron earned 76 cents per share, above analysts’ average estimate of 68 cents, according to Refinitiv data.

Textron’s revenue fell 5.7 percent to $3.11 billion, below analysts’ estimates of $3.17 billion.

(Reporting by Divya R and Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Bombardier Wins Eurotunnel Shuttle Renovation Contract

March 20, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

As part of the 2018-2026 mid-life programme, Eurotunnel signed a contract with Bombardier Transportation to renovate nine “PAX” Shuttles. Composed in total of 254 wagons, each 800-meter long shuttle is made up for passengers’ vehicles with passengers remaining in their vehicles during for the 35-minute Channel crossing. In the 25-year period since the opening of the Channel Tunnel, these Shuttles have each travelled an average of 300 round trips per month and have enabled over 236 million passengers to travel very comfortably between France and Great-Britain.

The contract is valued at €150 million ($171 million) over a period of seven years. Deliveries of the newly refurbished Shuttles will start in mid-2022 and continue until mid-2026.

Teams from Bombardier France and Belgium originally designed and built these unique vehicles in the 90’s and launched Bombardier’s activities in France. This year, the company celebrates 30 years since its establishment at the Crespin facility in the Hauts-de-France Region.

“Mobility technology leader Bombardier brings its expertise and experience to Eurotunnel to renovate the shuttles it uses in the Channel Tunnel. This project, the largest in Europe in terms of scope and ambition, marks a milestone in the development of our refurbishment activities and places Bombardier as the leader of this market in France. As well as their own know-how, our French teams will be able to tap into the overall engineering expertise and processes across the Bombardier group to make a success of this unique project” said Laurent Bouyer, President of Bombardier Transportation France.

“Eurotunnel has chosen to put its trust in Bombardier Transportation for the renovation of its Passenger Shuttles. We are celebrating 25 years of operation of these unique Shuttles that were built 30 years ago. This strategic investment, our most important in 25 years, allows Eurotunnel to maintain the highest level of quality service and to affirm trust in its long-term perspectives”, said François Gauthey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Group.

Bombardier will be responsible for the renovation of 26 wagons on each of the nine Shuttles, including 12 single-deck carriages for coaches, minibuses, caravans and vehicles over 1.85 meters high, 12 double-deck carriages for cars and motorcycles, and 2 double-deck loader wagons, in addition to two spare loader wagons. As project technical advisor, Bombardier will lead the integration and renovation operations except for the single-deck loaders and will lead on engineering design and procurement for onboard equipment.

Eurotunnel will undertake design and procurement of key equipment such as brakes, doors, fire doors, fire detection, HVAC and the double-deck loaders. Eurotunnel will manage the homologation process of the renovated Shuttles with the appropriate authorities. Bombardier will provide the technical support to prepare the required documentation.

About Eurotunnel

Eurotunnel, a subsidiary of Getlink SE, manages the Channel Tunnel infrastructure and operations Truck and Passenger Le Shuttle services (cars and coaches) between Folkestone, UK and Calais, France. Eurotunnel holds the Channel Tunnel concession until 2086 and remains the fastest, most reliable, easiest and most environmentally friendly way to cross the Channel. In 25 years, more than 430 million people and 86 million vehicles have travelled through the Tunnel. This unique land link has become a vital link between the United-Kingdom and continental Europe.

About Bombardier Transportation

Bombardier Transportation is a global mobility solution provider leading the way with the rail industry’s broadest portfolio. It covers the full spectrum of solutions, ranging from trains to sub-systems and signalling to complete turnkey transport systems, e-mobility technology and data-driven maintenance services. Combining technology and performance with empathy, Bombardier Transportation continuously breaks new ground in sustainable mobility by providing integrated solutions that create substantial benefits for operators, passengers and the environment. Headquartered in Berlin, Germany, Bombardier Transportation employs around 40,650 people and its products and services operate in over 60 countries.

Delta May Order 200 New Jets, Considers Alitalia Investment

March 5, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines fueled the appetite of planemakers on Tuesday after Chief Executive Ed Bastian said the airline planned to replace some 200 Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft over the next decade.

The plans come as the second largest U.S. airline seeks to grow internationally, though Bastian said at a conference that the company had not yet decided whether to invest in struggling Italian carrier Alitalia.

Atlanta-based Delta’s potential fleet order, which analysts say would be worth over $10 billion, could boost proposals by Boeing Co to launch a new plane in that segment while Airbus is preparing to counter with a new version of A321 and the larger A330neo.

Delta is “very interested” and in discussions with Boeing about its proposed new midsized airplane, known as the NMA, Bastian said. Boeing will decide in 2020 whether to produce the plane which industry sources say would have two aisles and seat seven across.

The plane aims to address the so-called middle of the jet market between traditional narrowbody jets with one aisle and long-distance widebody planes.

“Hopefully they’ll decide to go,” Bastian said.

Delta is already in the process of replacing one-third of its mainline fleet, one of the largest and oldest among U.S. airlines, in the next five years.

Delta shares were up 2.5 percent at $50.03 in afternoon trading after Bastian said spring and summer travel demand was solid.

Delta Air Lines reveals their first A220 in Atlanta, Georgia at the TechOPS engine shop at Hartsfield Jackson International airport on Monday October 29,2018. (Chris Rank/Rank Studios)

ALITALIA INVESTMENT?

Bastian said it was too early to decide whether to invest in Alitalia, which was put under special administration in 2017 after workers rejected the latest in a long line of rescue plans, leaving the Italian government seeking a buyer to save the airline.

Italy’s state-controlled railway Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) said last month it would start negotiations with Delta and EasyJet Plc to draft a rescue plan, the third in a decade, for the struggling airline.

Delta executives have held talks in Rome in recent weeks, according to Italian industry sources, but doubts remain whether an outside investor would be willing to take a minority stake in the strike-prone airline.

Bastian said that the numbers being thrown around for Alitalia are “pretty large” and “not the kind of numbers that we’re considering, just to quell any concerns.”

Still, he said it makes sense to consider an investment in Italy, an important market for U.S. consumers, and noted that Delta’s global growth over time will skew toward international rather than congested domestic markets.

That growth could come through direct investments in overseas carriers.

“You can’t actually own partner carriers so you have to find ways to influence them beyond just a commercial contract as a partner, and what we have found is that by making an investment into these businesses we can get actually inside the board room and help to start shape the strategy.”

(Reporting by Tracy Rucinski in Chicago, additional reporting by Tim Hepher in Paris; Writing by Nick Zieminski; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Lisa Shumaker)

Rolls-Royce Quits Boeing’s Mid-Market Engine Race

February 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

LONDON (Reuters) – Rolls-Royce dropped out of the race to power Boeing’s planned mid-market aircraft on Thursday, saying it did not want to risk more disruption for its airline customers by rushing out a product without extensive testing.

The move strengthens a leading position in the high-profile contest already held by a transatlantic venture involving Rolls’ arch-rival General Electric, industry sources said,

Britain’s Rolls-Royce, which makes engines for large civil aircraft and military planes, wants to avoid a repeat of the problems with its Trent 1000 engine that powers Boeing’s Dreamliner 787.

Chief Executive Warren East said he had taken the “very difficult decision” to withdraw from the Boeing competition because it couldn’t make the development of its new UltraFan architecture fit the timetable for the aircraft.

Boeing has proposed launching a new mid-sized jetliner to fill a gap between the narrow and wide-body aircraft, with airline operations beginning in 2025.

“If you enter into service with an engine that is not sufficiently mature, then you are almost inevitably going to run into lots of in-service issues, lots of customer disruption and lots of incremental costs,” East told reporters.

He said, however, that Rolls was still committed to UltraFan, a major new fuel-efficient architecture that will power wide-body jets towards the back end of the next decade.

CFM International — a joint venture between GE and France’s Safran — as well as Pratt & Whitney are also potential suppliers for the new Boeing jet.

Pratt & Whitney recently re-entered the civil market for narrow-body jets and wants to expand to larger ones, but has been hit by industrial problems.

UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS

In the nearer term, Rolls is still dealing with the costs and disruption of fixing Trent 1000 engines caused by the poor durability of components.

“On this issue we have indeed turned the corner,” East said, although he added that the level of customer disruption was still unacceptable.

It raised the Trent 1000 charge to 790 million pounds from 554 million pounds at the half year, contributing to a full-year operating loss of 1.16 billion pounds ($1.54 billion), and allocated another 100 million pounds in cash to the problem.

The issue has damaged Rolls’ standing with its big customers.

British Airways owner IAG said on Thursday it would order 18 Boeing 777-9s, rather than a competing package from Airbus that industry sources said included the A350, which is powered by Rolls.

“I have been frustrated, largely with the performance of Rolls-Royce, not so much with Airbus,” IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh said.

East, however, said Rolls had an excellent relationship with BA and put the choice down to IAG’s fleet requirements.

“I am totally confident we will be continuing to be a major partner with BA for many, many years into the future,” he said.

East said that aside from Trent 1000, the rest of the business was performing well, although the large engine deliveries of 480 fell short of its 500 target, in part due to the challenge of stepping up Trent 7000 production.

Shares in Rolls were trading down 3.4 percent at 950 pence, underperforming a 1 percent drop in the FTSE 100.

The company reported a 8 percent rise in underlying revenue to 15.1 billion pounds and a doubling of operating profit to 616 million pounds.

However, changes in Rolls-Royce’s dollar-pound hedge book had a significant impact on its results, and were in part responsible for a reported full-year loss of 2.9 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, Additional reporting by Tim Hepher; Editing by Edmund Blair and Keith Weir)

Airbus Pencils in Orders for New A321XLR Jet

February 21, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus has begun lining up tentative orders for a longer-range version of its A321 jetliner, seeking to exploit signs of hesitation at arch-rival Boeing over whether to develop a new model in a hotly contested niche of the airplane market.

The European firm is in detailed talks with airlines over the price and timing of the longer-range design – known as A321XLR – and has pencilled in some orders subject to a formal launch, expected this year, industry sources said.

Airbus is looking for 200-300 draft orders before committing to build the A321XLR, in a move that would limit the space available for a mid-market alternative that Boeing hopes to launch in a gap between medium-haul and long-haul jets.

“Every A321XLR that Airbus sells, means one less potential sale for the NMA (Boeing’s proposed New Mid-sized Airplane),” an industry source said.

An Airbus spokesman said the planemaker is “always talking to customers” and declined further comment.

The middle of the jet market is at the centre of one of the most widely watched airplane design battles for years.

Boeing is aiming its potential new 220 to 260-seat NMA at a niche previously served by two models: its own 757, a long-range single-aisle jet, and its 767, a larger twin-aisle model.

Boeing dominates the upper end of that spectrum but has come under pressure from Airbus at the lower end.

Last month it postponed a decision on whether to launch the NMA to 2020 from 2019, though it said it could still decide whether to offer the plane on a preliminary basis this year. It maintained its goal of seeing any new jet enter service in 2025.

Facing a potential new competitor, Airbus plans a pincer move, using derivatives of two existing models: the A321neo and its souped-up sister versions – the A321LR and the proposed A321XLR – at the lower end and an upgraded A330 at the top end.

Unlike the smaller A321neo, the upgraded A330neo has been selling poorly but received a boost last week when Emirates ordered 40 of the planes.

The A321XLR would attempt to make it harder for Boeing to launch its new plane by increasing pressure at the lower end of the roughly 200-270-seat mid-market, valued at hundreds of billions of dollars over 20 years.

It would have a higher maximum take-off weight of 101 tonnes and 400-500 nautical miles more range than the A321LR, Airbus’ longest-range single-aisle. It would not carry extra passengers.

The A321LR can carry 206 people for 4,000 miles or up to 240 people on shorter trips. Boeing’s proposed new jet is expected to fly 4,000-5,000 miles, but Boeing says it will do so with the greater comfort of a twin-aisle jet and at a lower cost.

Airbus is expected to try to create momentum for the A321XLR by offering airlines with existing orders for the A321neo or A321LR versions a chance to upgrade to the A321XLR.

U.S. sources have dismissed the A321XLR, saying another model in the A321 family would dilute the second-hand market, making it harder to finance orders of the new longer range version for which the market remains relatively niche.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher; editing by Richard Lough)

Boeing says aircraft demand supports even faster 737 production

February 6, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

SEATTLE (Reuters) – A top Boeing Co executive said on Wednesday market demand was strong enough to support an even higher production rate of 63 single-aisle 737 aircraft per month but such an increase depends more on suppliers being able to keep up.

The world’s largest planemaker is also looking to remove as much risk as possible from a proposed new mid-sized jet plan by focusing on batting down development costs and applying lessons learned across multiple civil and military programs, Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith told a conference.

Boeing is currently building 52 737 aircraft per month at its Seattle-area factory. Reuters reported this week that Boeing plans to speed up to 57 planes per month in June if it can smooth out supplier delays.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

Image from http://www.boeing.com

Mid-Air Crash in Italy kills Seven People

January 28, 2019 / WIL BALDWIN

A Jodel D140E from the Aeroclub de Megeve and an Airbus Helicopters AS350B3 collided in mid-air over the Italian Alps

MILAN (Reuters) – Four Germans were killed in a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a light aircraft in the Italian Alps on Friday with the other three victims were from Italy, France and Belgium, Italian police said on Sunday.

“We can’t reveal the names because some of the families still don’t know,” one official at the joint office of Alpine rescue and police in Entreves, in the Aosta Valley, told Reuters.

The two survivors were a Frenchman and a German, the official said. The French survivor was under investigation in connection with the accident, he added, without giving any further details.

The German Foreign Ministry said officials at its consulate in Milan were working closely with Italian authorities to confirm the identity of the victims.

The two aircraft collided in mid-air above the Rutor glacier in the Aosta Valley, some 80 km (50 miles) northwest of the city of Turin on Friday afternoon.

The Italian rescue workers had found five of the victims and the two survivors on Friday. Two more bodies were discovered in the snow some distance from the wreckage of the two aircraft on Saturday.

It is not yet clear how the accident happened.

Reporting by Francesca Landini; Additional reporting by Andrea Shalal in Berlin; Editing by Keith Weir

Delta The Likely Buyer of 10 Airbus A330neo Jets

November 14, 2018 / WIL BALDWIN

PARIS (Reuters) – U.S. carrier Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) has emerged as the probable buyer for 10 Airbus A330neo jets worth $3 billion, industry sources said, in a boost for the becalmed European model.

Airbus (AIR.PA) announced an order for 10 of the 300-seat aircraft in its latest monthly order update on Friday, but withheld the name of the buyer for the Oct. 30 deal.

Two industry sources, asking not to be named, said Delta (DAL.N) was the buyer. A third said Delta had been looking to expand an existing order for 25 A330neo aircraft.

Airbus declined comment. Delta was not immediately available for comment.

If confirmed, the deal would mark the second order for the slow-selling A330neo in as many weeks after Kuwait Airways ordered eight of the long-haul planes in mid-October.

Airbus is aggressively seeking more orders for the latest version of its profitable A330 franchise after sales of the engine-upgraded A330neo model fell short of expectations in the face of heavy competition from the newer Boeing 787.

However, industry sources have questioned how far recent orders represent net new sales for the European giant, saying they could replace at least some earlier orders for the A350.

The new-generation A350 is a longer-term bet for Airbus and competes with the 787 and Boeing 777. But one market source said Airbus was willing to give up some orders for the newer plane in order to keep the A330neo afloat and prevent production cuts.

Airbus has given cautious signals that it is prepared to be flexible in both directions when offering combinations of the A330 and A350, sources said, though it cannot afford to lose too many orders or customers for the more strategic A350 plane.

The wide-body A330neo is part of a pair of upgraded aircraft – the other being the strong-selling A321neo narrowbody – that strategists say Airbus is trying to push into the market to reduce the space for a new 220-260 seat, mid-sized jet being studied by Boeing. A decision on that project is due next year.

Airbus is especially keen to continue A330-series production because it has been a major source of profits and cash.

Airbus also needs an aircraft like the 250-300 seat A330 to offer airlines a step-up into the wide-body market from its largest narrowbody, the A321neo, which holds up to 240 people.

Without it, Airbus’s smallest wide-body would be the 315-seat A350-900, which leaves a large gap in Airbus’s portfolio above the A321neo for rival Boeing (BA.N) to exploit.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher and Tracy Rucinski; Editing by Laurence Frost and Edmund Blair)

Image from www.airbus.com

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