Page 6 - AAA JUNE - JULY 2017 Online Magazine

SPECIAL REPORT PARIS AIRSHOW
s P e C i AL re P or t P A ris A irs H o W

Ready for Take-Off

The stakes are high for Airbus and Boeing in the battle for twin-aisle supremacy
By Geoffrey Thomas

tHe HigH vALue HigH YieLd Wide-bodY Dreamliner introduction early in calendar ’18.” It Widebody Demand
airliner stakes are at a fascinating space as said that QAN has disclosed that Melbourne/ Of greatest concern to Airbus and Boeing
the industry gathers for the 2017 Paris Air Perth/ London will be the first route for its is that very large widebody demand has
Show at Le Bourget. Both Boeing and Airbus 787-900s, with benefits of the 787 being 35 sunk to almost terminal levels. According
are feeling the effects of a slowing in demand per cent more fuel efficient than the current to the Centre for Aviation “the A380 and
but their offerings promised unprecedented A380 on a per seat basis. Qantas A380s seat Boeing 747-8 have won only a net 37 orders
economy and performance which take the 484 while the Boeing 787-9 will seat just 236. in the last three years. A380 output has been
industry to a new level. Almost every offering It added that the “Dreamliner could make halved to one per month, and may fall even
in the twin-engine stakes delivers 20 plus per a material impact to International, which lower given the dearth of orders, and 747-8
cent fuel burn savings alone not to mention we see as a structurally difficult market for production is now at 0.5 aircraft per month,
the quantum leap in maintenance costs. QAN.” Qantas also told analysts that the 787- under subsistence level for either program.”
An excellent snap shot of that is data 9 would deliver a 50 per cent maintenance Interestingly the 747-8 is outselling the A380
provided by Australia’s Qantas on its new cost advantage over the Boeing 747-400. By - albeit for freighters. To try and breathe
Boeing 787-9 vs its A380 operation. Bank any measure these numbers are exciting and life into the A380 programme Airbus has
of America Merrill Lynch has moved its are what reductions in airfares and airline announced a program to add 80 more seats
rating from neutral to buy on the back of the profitability are all about. The Airbus A350, to the super jumbo that includes 11-abreast
performance of the 787-9. Specifically, BOA A330neo, 787, and 777X are the future of mass economy seating. Released at the Aircraft
said the 787 is a “game changer’’ and added travel but each manufacturer has challenges Interiors Expo in Hamburg the new package
“we upgrade QAN to Buy from Neutral on the to overcome both to production and long- would allow airlines to carry 575 passengers
back of benefits that could flow from QAN’s term strategy. in a four-class configuration. It includes new
6 ASIAN AIRLINES & AEROSPACE JUNE / JULY 2017 WWW.GBP.COM.SG/AAA