Are two questions that do not play for the future A350

The Berlin aerospace show, which opens tomorrow and until Sunday, will be largely dominated by Airbus and its parent company EADS. First because its us rival Boeing will be absent, but mostly because the future of the A350, in difficulty to the 787, is at the centre of the questions of clients and partners of the European aircraft manufacturer. According to several concurring sources, the European aircraft manufacturer should announce in the coming days of deep changes in the future long-haul jet, openly criticized in recent months by several key ("Les Echos" from April 3) customers. The principle has yet to be formally approved by the Board of Directors of EADS, parent company of Airbus. In an interview with the Sunday "Welt am Sonntag" newspaper, Thomas Enders, the German Co-Chairman of EADS, said: "We are open to any suggestion."

At Toulouse, Airbus engineers have already arrested the contours of the new A350. Main changes: the fuselage diameter should be expanded to about 50 centimeters from the initial project, which planned to keep the dimensions of the A330-A340 family, inherited from the A300. It is the main claim of potential or already declared the future aircraft, customers who wish to can place rows of 9 seats in front, as on the Boeing 787 and 777.

Additional costs

It is also the most difficult to Airbus decision, because the new diameter is incompatible with the Assembly line of plant Clément Ader of Coulomiers A330-A340 family. The calculation of the aircraft manufacturer, which partly on economies of scale to limit the cost of the program to $ 5 billion, would be allowed to lapse, even as the calendar, which provided for the delivery of the first devices end 2010 - early 2011.

According to a study by Merrill Lynch, the redesign of the project which also includes a new wing could cost some 3 billion additional dollars, what would be the final bill to 8 billion and would climb as the point of balance of the programme.

However, the Bank concluded that the cost-effectiveness of such an effort, believing that the cost per aircraft would only be $ 1.5 million, on the basis of a market potential of 4,000 devices, shared 50 - 50 with Boeing.

"This additional cost is to compare with the discounts of 10 to 15 million made by Airbus on the price of sale real an A350, compared to that of a 787," says the study. A new A350 could also support the sales of the A340, now overtaken by the Boeing 777. For reasons of training pilots, airlines which have an immediate need for long-haul aircraft indeed choose the combination 777, and 787 or A340 and A350. Finally, the launch of a new version would require Boeing to accelerate the release of the extended version of the 787 and, therefore, to support him also to the additional costs.

Are two questions that do not play for the future A350. The first is date of commissioning. The aircraft will likely be not ready before 2012, four years after the 787. The other focuses on the ability of Airbus to assume additional financial effort. It will indeed be to reconcile with the investments already incurred for the A380 (which will not begin to yield more cost until 2008), and those coming for the successor of the A320, expected around 2012-2014.