A350 XWB begins to win over 787 customers

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, April 10, 2007

After several attempts at revamping its A350, Airbus just may have found the right mix.

At least Emirates seems to think so, according to a Bloomberg report out today.

(To read the complete story, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=BA:US&sid=aIcZoNE0nreY )

The president of the Middle Eastern airline says Airbus has narrowed the gap between its A350 and Boeing’s 787 jet. After listening to customers like Emirates and Qatar Airways, Airbus tweaked the design of its A350 Extra Wide Body jet.

As a result, Emirates is mulling giving the European company an order for 100 A350s.

In his latest blog posting, Boeing’s marketing chief, Randy Baseler, addresses the question of into which market the A350 fits. (Visit Baseler’s blog http://boeingblogs.com/randy/). Although many consider Airbus’s A350 as the company’s answer to Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, Baseler argues Airbus’s new plane matches more closely with the 777.

Analysts have labeled the A350 XWB a “777-killer.” But Baseler says Airbus’s plane arrives too late to the market to present much of a threat.

(For my story on this topic, http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/02/20/100bus_b4a350001.cfm).