Airbus A350 Design Won't Be Changed

April 3, 2006
Airbus has no plans to change the design of its mid-sized A350 plane despite criticism from key lessors, Marketing Vice President Colin Stuart said on Monday.

US-based aircraft leasing firm ILFC warned last week that Airbus ran the risk of getting badly beaten by US rival Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, a new plane which the A350 is being devised to compete with.

But Stuart said there were no plans to change the A350, which is based on the design of the older A330, but incorporates a composite wing and uses the more fuel efficient engines being developed for the 787.

"I would expect to see that as the final design," Stuart said on the sidelines of a conference, referring to the A350 design criticized by ILFC for failing to incorporate as many new features as the Boeing 787, which uses more lightweight composites.

"I do not expect to see any change there," he added.

Stuart declined to comment on the criticisms by ILFC Chief Executive Steven Udvar-Hazy, which were echoed by another lessor, GE Commercial Aviation Services.

Boeing has so far won 343 firm orders for the 787, while Airbus has 91 for the A350, which began selling about a year later than its Boeing rival.

Airbus probably has too much invested in the 350 to stop work on it, or alter the aircraft in a major way.

Personally, I don't think the 350 is going to be very successful, but I don't think it will be a flop or anything similar to a 764. Airbus still has customer loyalty, and there will be airlines who pick the 350 over the 787, but altogether, the 787 should be much more successful than the 350.