Booming Economies Seek Superjumbo

Just as increased demand for airliners in the mideast and Asia fueled record sales years for Boeing and Airbus in 2005, at least one of those manufacturers is expecting that market to continue to grow -- and they have a jet large enough to meet the expected demand.

Booming economic development in China and India are expected to fuel demand for Airbus's A380 superjumbo -- or so Airbus says.

"From the start of the [A380] program, the fastest growth rates for air traffic in terms of passenger and in freight traffic are seen in Asia," Airbus regional communications representative Anthony Phillips told Agence-France Press Monday.

"The expectation is two new customers every year [for the A380]... It would not be unreasonable to say that at least one new customer could come from the Asia-Pacific region, in particular from high growth markets like China or India," Phillips added.

The Airbus rep cited increased fuel efficiency as a reason many Asian customers are going with the whalejet.

"Airlines globally are under enormous pressure to control their costs. For an airline that today is operating a fleet of Boeing 747s, by introducing the A380, it will lower their operating cost by up to 20 percent," he said.

The company also expects the A380 will help Airbus to make further inroads into the traditionally Boeing-friendly Japanese market. JAL and ANA currently operate the largest 747 fleets in the world.

"It has been a traditionally challenging market. There is clearly a strong industrial link between the US and Japan," said Phillips. "Quite clearly, with that in mind, Airbus hopes that they will become operators of A380s in due course."

Airbus clearly faces an uphill battle there -- especially as Boeing readies its more efficient 747-8 (above), largely to keep current Boeing customers from going across the pond for their larger aircraft needs. But Phillips is unconcerned.

"It is not unreasonable to expect that eventually Japan Airlines and ANA being large operators of 747 aircraft to become customers of the A380," he said.

FMI: www.airbus.com