Airbus certainly isn't wasting time sticking it to Boeing. Just days after a machinist strikebrought Boeing's assembly lines to a screeching halt, the boys in Toulouse are doing their best to score some orders at the American company's expense.
Airbus announced yesterday that starting in 2010, it will offer a higher gross weight version of its popular A330-200. The modified version of the plane will have a max takeoff weight of 238 tons, five tons more than the current model. Airbus hopes that'll position the plane as a viable alternative Boeing's much hyped and much delayed next-gen mega-jet, the 787 Dreamliner.
Derek Davies of Airbus says A330-200 v2.0 will have a range of 6,840 nautical miles, up from the current model's 6,750. Compare that to the first batch of 787s with their max takeoff weight of 219.5 tons and max range of 6,720 nm and Airbus makes a decent case but for one thing...
The numbers the company's so gleefully throwing around don't mesh with Boeing's. Boeing execs say the 787-800 will have a range of 7,650 to 8,000 nautical miles, which beats even the modified A330, and they insist Boeing has "an aggressive program in place to meet those targets." Asked about the discrepancy, Davies got all James Bond and said Airbus based its analysis on "market intelligence"
and believes Boeing's new jet is heavier and has a two-percent higher fuel burn than originally thought, as well as being heavier.
To keep things in perspective, Boeing has orders for more than 800 787s, while Airbus' rival product, the A350 XW, has racked up fewer than 350.
But that doesn't mean Airbus can't do some damage, especially if the
Boeing strike ends up being a drawn out affair.
Image by Airbus.
