Airbus

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Airbus SAS is an aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of EADS, a European aerospace company. Based in Blagnac, France, a suburb of Toulouse, and with significant activity across Europe, the company produces approximately half of the world's jet airliners.

Airbus began as a consortium of aerospace manufacturers, Airbus Industrie. Consolidation of European defence and aerospace companies in 1999 and 2000 allowed the establishment of a simplified joint-stock company in 2001, owned by EADS (80 %) and BAE Systems (20 %). After a protracted sales process BAE sold its shareholding to EADS on 13 October 2006.

Airbus employs around 63,000 people at sixteen sites in four European Union countries: France, Germany, the United Kingdom and Spain. Final assembly production is based at Toulouse, France; Hamburg, Germany; Seville, Spain; and, since 2009, Tianjin, China. Airbus has subsidiaries in the United States, Japan, China and India.

The company produces and markets the first commercially viable fly-by-wire airliner, the Airbus A320, and the world's largest passenger airliner, the A380.

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Leahy Says Airbus Might Stretch The A350 Further

Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy has indicated for the first time that Airbus might stretch the A350 further. "We might stretch it, we are not sure how big the market is," he told delegates at the ISTAT Europe conference in Barcelona/Spain. "We are studying it."

Leahy made the argument that "what the market needs is simplicity" and that the three current versions of the A350 compete well with the Boeing 777, 787 and 777X. However, Boeing is stretching the 777 further as part of the revamp to the 777-9X and is making it larger than the A350-1000. In a recent campaign, Lufthansa bought A350-900s and 777-9Xs. It is replacing A340-300s and Boeing 747-400s.

Airbus has so far stated that it does not see a need to stretch the A350 beyond the -1000, which seats around 350 passengers in three classes depending on configuration. But the gap between it and the next larger Airbus model, the A380, is around 170 seats according to standard layouts. On the Boeing side, the proposed 777-9X is now almost the same size as the 747-8 at up to 400 seats.

Leahy later downplayed his comments saying that "you don't have a story here." He argued that Boeing is stretching the 777 further to get to the unit cost improvements needed, but not because of the market. Leahy, instead, has doubts that there is a large enough market in the 400-seat category.

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Airbus ar putea vinde in 2013 peste 1.200 de aeronave

Airbus ar putea vinde anul acesta peste 1.200 de aeronave, dupa ce in primele noua luni din 2013 a depasit obiectivul pentru acest an, de a vinde cel putin 1.000 de avioane, a declarat luni John Leahy, directorul de vanzari al constructorului aeronautic european.

"Avem un obiectiv intern de 1.200 de aeronave, dar cred ca ca am putea avea o evolutie chiar mai buna", a afirmat la o conferinta John Leahy, la scurt timp dupa ce Airbus a incheiat o afacere importanta in Japonia.

In primele noua luni din 2013, Airbus a inregistrat 1.112 comenzi.

In iulie, EADS, compania mama a Airbus, anunta ca se asteapta la cel putin 1.000 de comenzi de avioane in acest an. Surse din industrie au declarat ca obiectivul companiei se apropie de 1.200 de comenzi.

Leahy a explicat ca nu a fost fixat o noua tinta de vanzari pentru acest an.

Luni, Airbus a castigat luni prima sa comanda de la Japan Airlines Co Ltd (JAL), intrand pe o piata dominata pana acum de rivala Boeing. Acordul prevede achizitia a 31 de avioane din familia A350, a caror valoare de catalog se ridica la 9,5 miliarde de dolari, cu optiunea de a se cumpara inca 25 modele A350.

"Aceasta este o imensa victorie pentru Airbus si o mare pierdere pentru Boeing. Airbus incearca sa sparga monopolul Boeing, care dureaza de decenii, si in acelasi mod Boeing vrea sa pastreze Airbus in afara comenzilor de la JAL si ANA", a declarat analistul Scott Hamilton, de la compania Leeham Co, din Seattle.

Anul trecut, Airbus a pierdut titlul de cel mai mari constructor aerian din lume, in fata rivalului american Boeing, atat in termeni de comenzi cat si de avioane livrate, conform Agerpres.

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Airbus's A380 Backlog Is Shrinking

Airbus aimed to tally 25 new orders in 2013 for its largest aircraft, the A380. But after one high-profile cancellation, Airbus now has three fewer orders than at the beginning of the year. Could this be the beginning of a trend?

The A380 has been selling slowly for some time, which Airbus has attributed to the sluggish world economy. While that is certainly a factor, Lufthansa's decision to reduce its firm orders to 14 from 17 raises more questions.

The airline's move is part of its long-term planning process, which aims for 3% annual growth. The carrier also placed orders for 25 Airbus A350-900s and 34 Boeing 777-9Xs. Lufthansa's senior vice president for corporate fleets, Nico Buchholz, says the original order for the A380 was placed more than 10 years ago and has just now been adapted. The airline concludes that it needs fewer aircraft in the very large segment than originally envisaged.

Lufthansa is still one of the largest operators in the segment, with orders for 14 A380s and 747-8s and a current in-service fleet of 23 747-400s, which will be replaced over time. In addition, Buchholz points out that there will always be routes such as Frankfurt-Johannesburg that are too big to be flown with smaller jets.

However, the major shift toward larger jets long predicted by Airbus has not happened yet. And the manufacturer is making the move tougher for airlines by offering highly efficient twin jets. Chief operating officer for customers, John Leahy, says airlines would have to install 550-560 seats in an A380 for the aircraft to match the unit costs of the A350-1000 that will enter the market in 2017. In other words, essentially all current operators are flying the aircraft in configurations that are much less attractive in terms of unit costs.

Leahy characterizes the Lufthansa decision as a "flavour du jour." "Let's see what the market is like in one or two years," he says. While Airbus is talking to several airlines about firming up positions for the A380 before year-end, it has not received a single firm order for the type this year, according to Leahy.



Doric Asset Finance signed up for 20 A380s at the Paris air show in June, and although that has not been turned into an actual order, Leahy says there is a chance the deal can be completed in 2013. He does not see Airbus competing for A380 placements with Doric, which is the only lessor with a commitment for the aircraft.

Aside from the Lufthansa reduction, several more of the 259 firm orders for the A380 are looking shaky. Leahy says "it is publicly known" that Virgin Atlantic's order for six A380s includes cancellation rights, and the airline has indicated many times that it is unlikely to take the aircraft. He also indicates that Hong Kong Airlines, with 10 A380s on order, might "convert" its commitment to "other products." Kingfisher Airlines is still listed with five orders, although it stopped flying in 2012.

And there are serious doubts that Air Austral will take its two A380s that were intended to fly between Paris and the French overseas departments in a very high-density configuration. Air France has delayed some of its A380 deliveries as it continues its restructuring program and cuts back on capital expenditures.

Airbus still has "a couple of slots" open for the A380 in 2015, but those can only be taken by airlines that already operate the type. The Lufthansa cancellation affects production slots beyond 2015, thus it does not worsen Airbus's short-term manufacturing problem. But if the aircraft maker does not find airlines to take those slots soon, it will have to cut back on production.

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Airbus Extends Order Lead Over Boeing

Europe's Airbus extended its lead over Boeing in a hard-fought order contest in October, but remained behind on deliveries, leaving its U.S. rival in the industry's no.1 spot.

Airbus said it had sold 153 jets in the month to bring new orders for the first 10 months of the year to 1,265 aircraft.

Boeing's orders for the same period stood at 1,102 jets, the company said in a monthly breakdown on Thursday.

October was dominated by high-profile defections of two airlines previously loyal to Boeing as Mexican airline VivaAerobus and Japan Airlines opted for Airbus jets.

Boeing, which won the race on both orders and deliveries in 2012, is expected to hit back with significant sales at this month's Dubai Airshow but analysts say Airbus has the edge in this year's order battle while trailing behind on deliveries.

After cancellations, Airbus booked a total of 1,215 net orders from January to October, up 14 percent from the same period a year earlier and well above Boeing's 957 net orders.

Airbus had already exceeded its official target of 1,000 gross orders by the end of September, but by breaking through the 1,200 barrier it has also beaten an internal goal.

Airbus continued, however, to show a blank scorecard for 2013 sales of the A380 superjumbo. Disappointing sales of the world's largest aircraft have raised questions over production and ambitions to break even on the jet in 2015.

Parent EADS is expected to update investors on targets with quarterly results on November 14.

Airbus delivered a total of 504 planes between January and October including four A380s that brought total superjumbo deliveries this year to 18, against a full-year target of 25.

Boeing delivered 530 aircraft in the same period and last week announced plans to increase production targets from 2017 to meet strong demand for medium-haul jets.

The latest industry data comes as Boeing prepares to unveil potentially record orders for its new 777X wide-body jet at the November 17-21 Dubai Airshow, subject to board approval.

Industry sources say a decision on whether to launch the plane with what some estimate to be as many as 250 potential orders, including deals outside the Gulf, hinges on union and legislature approval for proposals to build the plane in the Seattle area in return for labor and tax concessions.

Airbus is also negotiating to sell aircraft at the Middle East aerospace event and is expected to close a deal for 20 A380s with leasing company Doric Lease Corp soon.

Boeing's first data for early November meanwhile suggested that unidentified airlines had upgraded orders for 26 of the company's best-selling 737 jets to the newer MAX model. Southwest Airlines confirmed it accounted for 20 of these.

Demand for the fuel-saving 737 MAX and the competing Airbus A320ne, as airlines try to cut operating costs, has propelled commercial aerospace through an unusually strong and prolonged upward cycle despite the financial crisis in developed markets.

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EADS concediază 5800 de persoane în Europa, dar măreşte producţia de componente pentru Airbus de la IAR Ghimbav

Grupul EADS, producătorul aeronavelor Airbus, concediază circa 5800 de persoane în Germania, Franţa, Spania şi Marea Britanie, informează Financial Times. Publicaţia arată că restructurările sunt motivate de necesitatea multinaţionalei de a-şi garanta profitul în contextul în care Uniunea Europeană a diminuat cheltuielile cu apărarea.

În timp ce îşi reduce numărul de angajaţi din vestul Europei, EADS intenţionează să îşi extindă producţia de componente pentru Airbus în România, la Braşov. Compania europeană vrea să închirieze încă zece hectare de teren pentru construcţia unei noi hale de producţie pentru extindere.

Activitatea de pe platforma industrială a IAR Ghimbav s-a dovedit un succes după ce, în numai doi ani, vânzările au atins 32,2 milioane de euro.

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Kuwait Airways signs for A350 and A320neo

Kuwait Airways has moved a step closer to a fleet-renewal programme, having signed a tentative deal to acquire 10 Airbus A350-900s and 15 A320neos.

The airframer, which confirms the signing of a memorandum of understanding, has not indicated when the aircraft will be delivered.

While the A350s are only available with Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines, no powerplant selection has been given for the A320neo jets.

Kuwait Airways' fleet renewal has been a drawn-out process, interrupted by the government's efforts to privatise the airline.

It had previously intended to take a batch of Boeing 787s as well as a number of A320s under a modernisation programme. Kuwait Airways operates several ageing types including Airbus A300s and A310s.

Acting chairman Jassar Al Jassar says the A350s will "strengthen our long haul route development" while the A320neos will be deployed on regional sectors.

"These aircraft are an essential part of our ambitious growth plans," says Al Jassar.

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A350-1000 approaches end of concept phase

Airbus is to freeze concept work for the A350-1000 by the end of this month, and shift to a more detailed design stage in the new year.

Chief executive Fabrice Bregier says 2014 will be a "very busy year" for the -1000. He says the airframer is "ramping down" design teams from the -900 so that it will have sufficient resources to develop the larger twinjet.

The aircraft will reach the end-of-concept phase this month, he says. Airbus designates this stage as MG5. The next gate for the aircraft will be MG7, the end of design and authorisation for parts manufacturing.

Bregier says the -1000 is "not a high-risk development", given that it has a high proportion of commonality with the -900, and it will be ready for entry into service in mid-2017.

He points out that the orders from "top customers", including British Airways and Japan Airlines, have shown that there is demand in the market for the aircraft.

"When we told you the -1000 was a [Boeing] 777-300ER killer, I think this is confirmed by the launch of the 777-9X," he adds.

Airbus has continued to hand out contracts for A350-1000 components, with Saab picking up a package of flap-support structure work – its first supply deal for the type.

The structures connect the flaps to the wing trailing edge. Saab says it will deliver the components from 2015 and perform design and manufacturing at its aerostructures facility in Linkoping.

Saab says the agreement runs for the life of the programme with an initial order value of around $150 million based on the current order backlog of 186 aircraft.

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Airbus welcomes A380 operations in India

Airbus welcomes the news that the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation has approved the operations of the Airbus A380 in India.

"This is good news for Indian airports and the Indian flying public. The A380 is the world's most fuel efficient aircraft in service with the lowest operating costs per seat and the highest revenue generating potential which benefits the airlines and the travelling public. For the Indian flying public, the A380 offers the world's most comfortable flying experience," said Dr. Kiran Rao, Airbus EVP Strategy and Marketing.

A booming economy, a growing middle classe, migration, urbanisation and tourism are all factors pushing India to become one of the world's fastest growing aviation markets.  Larger aircraft like the A380 combined with higher load factors make the most efficient use of limited airport slots and contribute to rising passenger numbers without additional flights to capture this growth.

As recently confirmed by London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest A380 airport, the Airbus A380 lets airports maximise efficiency and revenue potential by offering more passenger seats with the same number of flights.

The A380 is the world's quietest large aircraft inside and out, making less than half the noise of its nearest rival around airports. In recognition of this, in 2012 the A380 won an award from the UK's Noise Abatement Society for its quiet operations. It is also one of the greenest aircraft, with unmatched fuel efficiency.

So far, over 120 A380s have been delivered to 10 of the world's leading airlines. Over 50 million passengers have enjoyed the A380 flying experience and the fleet has accumulated some 150,000 flights and over 1.2 million flight hours. The A380 has visited nearly 160 airports of all sizes and in all continents of the world.

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Airbus 'Mega-Twin' Concept Hints At Next-Generation Plan

In the latest phase of the strategic chess game that the Airbus and Boeing rivalry has been in the past quarter century, all eyes are fixed on the European manufacturer to see how it will respond to Boeing's latest long-range project.

The emergence of the new Boeing twinjet-derivative family—launched at the Dubai Airshow in November on the back of orders and commitments for 259 aircraft worth $95 billion—presents Airbus with serious challenges. Not only does the smaller 777-8X variant directly compete with the 350-seat A350-1000, but the larger 777-9X opens up new territory in the potentially highly lucrative 400-plus-seat range below the A380 market for which Airbus has no current offering.

But could all that be about to change? The Hamburg-based Airbus Future Project Office along with the Universities of Aachen and Hamburg and Germany's aerospace research center DLR participated in a series of studies into large product development. It was partially funded by Airbus and through the federal aviation research program Luftfahrtforschungsprogramm (Lufo).

The initial trade studies focused on an extremely large twinjet aimed intriguingly at the 470-seat sector now served only by the 747-8. The work pre-dates the official launch of the 777X, as it was concluded in 2012, but sources familiar with the manufacturer's product development work say the New Long Range (NLR) project is attracting growing interest again as Airbus seeks a response to the 777X.

The NLR has the potential to open up a new large-capacity market in the 747 sector with the lower operating costs offered by a large twin. It would conceivably augment the slower-selling and more expensive A380 and, at the same time, be the basis for a product family including a smaller derivative that could also compete directly with the 777-9X, possibly with additional range and capacity.

However, any new product development initiative within Airbus faces extremely high hurdles. CEO Fabrice Bregier has sent a clear message to management that "we need to focus on incremental improvement of our products," rather than going for all-new concepts.

Airbus states that it is "not planning to launch a new aircraft program for the next 10 years and the company focus is on incremental innovation, which means continuing to keep our current programs at the cutting-edge of technology in order to continue to deliver value to our customers. In parallel, we continuously carry out product development studies and perform research that covers all market segments, which can include long-term new aircraft concepts and shorter-term enhancements to current products. Examples of this include the regional and 242-tonne versions of the A330."

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Another 27 A380s Receive Wing Mods

Emirates' follow-up order for 50 more A380s has been a great relief for the Airbus sales department. And the engineering group continue to point out that the manufacturer's largest jet is now "a normal serial program," as executive vice president for programs, Tom Williams, puts it. But this is not yet the case for its customers.

While Airbus has identified and developed short- and long-term fixes, as well as a new wing design for the aircraft, airlines are still feeling the effects of the modification work required to repair the cracks in wing rib feet, which were discovered during routine maintenance. Some of the operators will feel the pain until the end of 2015, as the needed work can take each afflicted aircraft out of service for up to eight weeks.

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Airbus A380 - Google Street View

Pilots cabin | Passenger area: economy | business | first class | bar | toilet

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Nu am pus linkul? Cum de mi-a scăpat?  Știam de asta din vara anului trecut.

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Qatar-branded test A350 breaks cover

Airbus has unveiled the joint Qatar Airways branding on its fourth A350-900 test aircraft, MSN4, which is shortly to enter the flight programme.

The colour scheme features the logo of Qatar Airways, the first customer for the type, on the forward fuselage, winglets and Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

Airbus's test livery covers the rear of the twinjet, which bears test registration F-WZNW, while a banner reading 'A350 XWB Launch Customer' transitions from Qatar's maroon colours to Airbus's blue.

Airbus unveiled the scheme as Qatar Airways chief Akbar Al Baker visited the line at Toulouse where the first A350 for the carrier is undergoing final assembly.

MSN4, one of five airframes for the certification programme, will undergo external noise and lightning tests, as well as avionics development. It will also be used for pilot and maintenance crew training.

"I am pleased with what I have seen during my visit," says Al Baker. "It gives me every confidence that the programme is well on track for our first delivery in 2014."

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Airbus A330-343 on Chicago - O'Hare International (ORD / KORD) (January 1st 2014)

Sursa: airliners.net