US Airways orders A350XWB plus other Airbus plane types
June 18, 2007: 07:49 AM EST


PARIS, Jun. 18, 2007 (AFX International Focus) -- EADS unit Airbus said US Airways (NYSE:LCC) has ordered 92 aircraft worth just over 8 bln usd including its mid-sized A350XWB.

Airbus said US Airways is ordering 22 A350-800s, 10 A330-200s and 60 A320-family jets.

Engine maker Rolls-Royce said US Airways had chosen the Trent XWB to power the A350s in an order worth about 1.8 bln usd. The aircraft are due for delivery from 2014.

--damn thats a big order...wonder if this is big enough 4 airbus...surprising boeing lost a deal from there home country .......

im so glad that they got this..and on top of that it was from an american airliner..lol

Yeah, im quite surprised, wonder what happened 2 Boeing?

Not really suprising. US Airways had already ordered the pre-XWB A350, so it maked total sense to renegotiate their contract with Airbus and order the new version.

Seems like US Airways will be the only American A350XWB customer.

Interesting though that they went with A350X-800 only and not the -900 as well.

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You think that's a big order? .... Qatar Airways has already placed an order for 80 A350XWBs..!! ..and Emirates has long been talking about a 100 plane order for either the A350XWB or 787 (won't be a split order).

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As for the question about whether Airbus is back on track... hmmm... I'd have to go with the answer 'not yet'. They still have a long way to go to get their paper aeroplane A350X properly defined and designed. That won't happen till October NEXT year.

Nothing happened to Boeing... Airbus won the order because they offered a greater discount on the actual plane price. So when you read the numbers in those article, it's not actually the correct dollar figures. US Airways is rumoured to have got between 30-40% discount on the total list price...so yep, Airbus just decided to offer more discounts to win over US Airways.

With Boeing having already logged over 600 orders, there's simply no need to bend-over backwards in terms of discounts to win orders. The 787 sells itself, and its record-breaking order figure is going to provide a healthy profit margin for Boeing. Also, Boeing is yet to unveil their 787-10, so that may provide an additional injection in sales.

So what's better in your guys opinion, 787 or A350? Why?

I think the 787 is a revolutionary aircraft that is introducing cost effectiveness, in my opinion, for the first time in the airline industry. The composite material that the aircarft is made of is essential for the fuel savings that it will provide. In addition, the windows are larger, the navigation system is advanced, and the range the aircraft has is unprecedented. It is clear that Airbus jumped on the 'cost-effective' aircraft right after it saw the orders pour in for the Boeing. I think Airbus nailed it with the A380, but Boeing nailed it with the 787.

Oh, and just because Airbus got an order from US Airways, doesn't mean much. The 787 seems to be getting more and more attention and now there are talks of more US carriers ordering the aircraft. Also, Boeing has been working on a 777 replacement.

Airbus' Paris sales soar over Boeing

June 19, 2007

LE BOURGET, France (AP) -- Airbus stole the spotlight from U.S. rival Boeing Co. on the opening day of the world's largest air show yesterday, announcing deals worth about $43 billion.
Boeing, in contrast, tallied up orders worth $4.4 billion. Some, but not all, of the Airbus orders were new -- Qatar Airways confirmed a purchase of 80 of Airbus' problem-plagued A350 jets, worth more than $18 billion.
However, despite its early lead in the traditional trans-Atlantic rivalry at the weeklong Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, Airbus still has a long way to go to match Boeing's superselling Dreamliner 787.
Going into the fair, Chicago-based Boeing had already secured 584 orders for the Dreamliner, compared with Airbus' total of 13 firm orders and 142 non-final commitments for its A350.
The Toulouse-based plane maker added 114 new firm orders for the A350 yesterday, including the 80 from Qatar and 12 from Kuwait's Aviation Lease & Finance Co. US Airways also announced plans to add two to its previous order of 20. Including firm orders and future commitments, Airbus said it received orders for a total of 339 aircraft valued at $43.3 billion based on average list prices.
The success of the A350 is by no means assured. Airbus' decision to redesign the jet after customer complaints -- resulting in the extra-wide-body, or XWB, model -- has pushed back its delivery date until 2013.

The 787 is really capitalising on the A380 delays. Shame on the wiring and technical issues... It really is a great plane that deserved to fly a long time ago.

So how do you guys see the situation would be if Airbus didn't have those problems with the A380 and the A350 would have been like the XWB from the start and both planes would have been launched on original schedule?