Airbus: new design airliner soon unlikely, but not impossible
European airliner manufacturer Airbus, part of the wider Airbus Group, is not currently planning a new airline design. But that does not mean that there is no thinking about a new design. "If there is [to be] a new plane, it will be a single-aisle [airliner]," Airbus Germany board chairperson Klaus Richter told international aviation journalists in Hamburg, Germany, on Sunday evening.
"For the time being, it's rather hypothetical," Richter told Engineering News Online. "Keep in mind that we have 5 000 orders in the order book for the A320 family, so there is no urgency. But there will probably be intensive discussions in the next few years about the future of single-aisle, for 2030 and after."
Should Airbus decide to develop a new single-aisle design, it would be for an entry-into-service date around 2030. "Investment into a new single-aisle [airliner] will be above €10-billion," he highlighted. "The improvement in technology performance needs to be really big to justify that."
Moreover, the current new engine option (neo) programme for the A320 family of single-aisle airlines has proven to be a great success. The improvement in performance of an A320neo over an A320 is around 20%. The A321neo has been a particular success. (The A321/A321neo is the biggest member of the A320/A320neo family.) "The A321neo can be used intercontinentally," he pointed out. "The step we took with the neo was gigantic."
Keith Campbell is attending the Airbus Innovation Days 2016 as a guest of the company.
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