3:26:37 PM | 7/8/2005
The European plane-maker Airbus yesterday held a press conference in Hanoi to introduce a fuel-saving, wide-body jet to be called the A350.
The EUR4 billion (US$5.3 billion) A350 – a spin-off of the earlier A330 – is Airbus's response to Boeing's first all-new plane of the 21st century, the 7E7 which is due in the air in 2008.
The A350 will be offered into two different passenger versions with capacities ranging from 245 to 285 seats and is scheduled to enter service in the first half of 2010
It said the long-range version of the A350, known as the A350-800, would seat 245 passengers, with a range of 15,900 km or more. The A350-900 would typically fly 285 passengers over distances of at least 15,900 km.
Airbus expects to land "at least 50 per cent" of the potential market for the 250-300 seat category, which it estimated at 3,100 new aircraft over the next two decades, Airbus's chief marketing official, John Leahy, said.
The Airbus parent EADS predicted record total Airbus deliveries of 350-360 Airbus aircraft in 2005. It forecast EADS group operating profit to grow by more than 9 per cent to over EUR2.4 billion (US$3.17 billion), helped by the record Airbus deliveries.
Airbus is a leading aircraft manufacturer that consistently captures around half of all orders for airliners with more than 100 seats. It provides the aircraft best suited to the market’s needs and supports these aircraft with the highest quality of service.
In 2004, Airbus achieved a turnover of some EUR20 billion and provided support for the highly reliable operation of the more than 3,300 Airbus aircraft currently in operation with more than 250 operators around the globe. To date, Airbus has received more than 5,200 orders from 204 customers.
At present, Vietnam's two carriers - Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines -are operating 21 Airbus A310s, A320s and A321s. Vietnam Airlines has plans to purchase an additional 10 Airbus 321s between now and 2010.
Vietnamese
