Airbus delivers its first A330neo to Boeing 787

TOULOUSE, France: European Airbus delivered its first A330neo jet to TAP Portugal on Monday to defeat US rival Boeing in the extremely competitive long-haul jet battle.

The confrontation between the A330neo and the Boeing 787 pits two generations of jetliners in one of the most congested but potentially most lucrative segments of the aircraft market, which is expected to account for one trillion sales dollars over 20 years.

The A330neo offers fuel savings thanks to the new Rolls-Royce engines, although these have been delayed by industrial problems at the UK supplier.

Airbus' Director of Planning, Guillaume Faury, said he was expecting Airbus to catch up on the A330neo delivery delay by the end of 2019.

Sales of the A330neo were also below expectations, Boeing recording its 787, but Faury predicted that these sales would increase after the first delivery.

"In my opinion, the A330neo will have more weight when it will be in service," he told reporters.

One of the first and largest customers of the Airbus A330neo, the Avolon leasing company, which financed the first TAP aircraft, said there were still more orders to be placed.

"It's a moderate backlog (orders), we would prefer more planes sold to more customers – no one would do it?" Said Avolon general manager Domhnal Slattery to Reuters .

"But what reassures us is that the replacement wave of the A330-200 (previous) has not really started and that it should start this year, the l '39, which is the first time the A330-200 (previous) has started. next year and the next year. "

Airbus recently won orders for A330neo from Kuwait Airways and Delta Air Lines, but Delta has announced it has postponed some deliveries of the new A350 and industry sources said Kuwait had had the opportunity to postpone or cancel A350s in exchange for his support.

MID-MARKET STRATEGY

The A330neo, featuring a newer cabin and larger engines than existing A330 long-haul aircraft, is the latest in the battle between Airbus and Boeing on the "middle of the market", which is raging between two long-haul and medium-haul aircraft. .

Boeing is studying the development proposals for a dedicated jet aircraft carrying between 220 and 270 people, which, according to development analysts, could damage the A330, the most cost-effective model of Airbus to wide body.

Airbus is trying to close its claws around the same part of the market by combining the A330neo with 250 to 300 seats at the top end and the smaller A321neo underneath.

The brawl between the plane giants is one of the most intense in years, prompting Europeans to assert that Boeing was trying to drive the A330neo off the market to make way for its future. new jet plane. "Boeing failed in its mission to destroy the A330," said Crawford Hamilton, director of marketing at Airbus.

Boeing rejected that. "Our goal is to provide the most efficient, efficient and versatile aircraft to airlines around the world," said a spokesman.

Boeing said it has won 65% of jumbo orders over the last 5 years. Airbus reports that the A330 has won nearly 50% of orders against the 787 since the launch of the A330neo version in 2014. Both companies are selecting data to support their marketing campaigns.

The aircraft delivered to TAP Portugal on Monday is the A330-900neo, which has 298 seats. It is the largest of the two versions developed by Airbus and one that dominates the count of the 242 aircraft ordered.

Of these, 28 are officially assigned to IranAir but Airbus says they will not be delivered soon due to the renewal of the sanctions imposed by the United States, which apply to all jets using air jets. important American parties.

The smallest A330-800neo made its first flight this month.

(Report by Tim Hepher, edited by David Goodman and Adrian Croft)