Airbus President confident over present and future

Airbus President and CEO Noel Forgeard is bullish about the performance of Airbus on the world stage and its prospects for the future despite the downturn in the commercial airline market, rumours of vast communications expenditure, and the ongoing A400M saga.

Forgeard pointed to the figures for the A380 superjumbo, which has achieved 40% of the sales it needs for the programme to break even since it was launched last year as the prime evidence for his optimism. The European manufacturer has so far sold 97 planes to 9 airlines, with three of the deals coming post 11 September.

The Airbus chief further announced that the A340-600 long range, high capacity aircraft had now achieved full certification, from both the GAA and the FAA, while the A340-500 ultra long-range plane is in the final stages of its certification.

Forgeard told reporters with some relish that his company's research into the 250 passenger aircraft market, the same market that Boeing's elusive Sonic Cruiser is aimed at, had been proved correct and was now being echoed by its main rival. "Airlines expect cheap and green aircraft," he said.

As for its own intentions toward the 250-seat market, Airbus does not have any proposed projects on the drawing board at this stage. Forgeard intimated that no new projects would be undertaken until the workload required by the A380 and the A400M projects had decreased, citing 2012 as the earliest date for a new aircraft of this size.

In the case of the A400M "proposed workload" might be a more pertinent estimation of the situation. The whole A400M future is in the lap of the German government and its ongoing budgetary tribulations. The contract remains unsigned and is overshadowed by the possibility that the UK could jump ship in favour of Boeing's C-17 Skymaster, much fancied by the RAF.

Airbus remains optimistic that the whole matter can be resolved by the turn of the year. They have given the two engine teams competing for the contract until the end of September to table their definitive bids, with the intention of announcing a winner soon afterward, in line with "technical logic".

Forgeard was particularly keen to quash the unflattering story that has appeared in some European publications putting the company's communications costs in the region of 120 million Euros. The CEO said the figure was in fact 58.5 million Euros.

REF XQQEE XQQCR XQQAR XQQFE XQQIE