Airbus is poised to revamp its popular A330 with more fuel-efficient engines to step up competition with Boeing in the long-haul aircraft sector.
Fabrice Brégier, chief executive of Airbus’s passenger jet business, told the Financial Times ahead of this month’s Farnborough air show: “If we can find a solution to improve this aircraft I believe it will confirm that we intend to lead the wide-body segment of our market.”
Airbus has been considering launching the A330neo – or new engine option – at the show, but this prospect is fading because the jet revamp appears to be more complex than originally anticipated, according to the FT report.
It may be possible to sell more than 1,000 A330neos because the aircraft will be cheaper than the rival Boeing 787 Dreamliner, he claimed.
Brégier said Airbus was studying “significant” modification of the A330’s wings, not just to accommodate the new engines – which would be heavier compared to existing ones – but to improve the aircraft’s aerodynamics and therefore help further reduce fuel burn.
He defended the company’s strategy in the wide-body market, rejecting suggestions that the company was wrong to seek limited improvements to the A330 rather than build a new aircraft.
The probability was “growing every day” that the company would launch an A330 with more fuel-efficient engines.
The A330 entered service in 1994 and more than 1,300 aircraft have been sold. But there are just less than 250 remaining on the books to deliver to customers – about two years’ worth of production.