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Airbus superjumbo, Boeing Dreamliner vie for China=20
=09
=09
Reuters <http://money.excite.com/img/logo_reuters.gif> =09
Wednesday September 17, 6:47 AM EDT=20
(Recasts, updates with Airbus, Boeing comment)
By Scott Hillis
BEIJING, Sept 17 (Reuters) - Airbus SAS (EAD
<http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?time=3D0&symbol_search_text=3DEA=
D>
) scoffs that it would like to see some real competition for a change.
Boeing Co (BA
<http://money.excite.com/jsp/qt/full.jsp?time=3D0&symbol_search_text=3DBA=
> )
suggests the only way its rival can sell its bloated products is to
offer profit-gobbling discounts.
It was just another day in the aviation business on Wednesday as the
world's top two plane makers courted China, the world's fastest growing
aviation market that could be worth nearly $200 billion over the next
two decades.
Executives from the companies pitched their vastly different upcoming
jets and traded barbs at back-to-back news briefings at an aviation expo
in Beijing.
Airbus China chief Guy McLeod said he was redoubling efforts to win the
first Chinese order for its gargantuan A380 jet and was confident they
would be plying China's skies before the 2008 Summer Olympics in
Beijing.
=20
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"I seriously think we will see it by 2008 in the colours of a Chinese
airline," McLeod told reporters. "The 550-seat A380 will be the ideal
mode of transport for the tens of thousands of athletes, fans,
businessmen and tourists who will be coming to China."
DREAMLINER VS SUPERJUMBO
Airbus has logged 129 orders from 11 airlines worldwide for the jet,
which will dislodge Boeing's 747 model as the biggest commercial
passenger plane when deliveries begin in 2006.
"The A380 is not a dream, it is not even a dreamliner, it is a reality
and it is a reality today," Rossella Daverio, Airbus senior vice
president for communications, said, in a swipe at Boeing's planned 7E7
jet.
Boeing thinks Airbus has badly overestimated the superjumbo market and
that the real demand will be for a mid-sized plane suitable for regional
and long-distance hauls.
"They are very intrigued by the ability of this aircraft to
significantly reduce their costs," Randy Tinseth, director of product
marketing for Boeing's commercial jet unit, said of Chinese airlines.
Boeing estimates China will need some 2,400 new jet aircraft worth $197
billion over the next 20 years.
The country would need 1,960 planes for domestic routes and 440 new
craft for overseas flights, Boeing said on its Web site
(www.boeing.com).
Chinese air travel would grow 7.1 percent a year from now until 2022,
compared to a world average of 5.1 percent, it said.
LOOKING FOR REAL COMPETITION
Boeing has had a virtual lock on the China market for years, but new
orders are now split about evenly with Airbus.
The U.S. firm says the Dreamliner, which will seat 200 to 250 people,
will help it turn the tables as Airbus pours resources into the A380.
"We think we will be able to regain our traditional share (of China),
more than 50 percent," said Randy Baseler, vice president of marketing
for Boeing's commercial aircraft.
"What do you mean by market leader? Do you mean who can deliver the most
discounted airplanes? If that's the case, then okay, Airbus wins,"
Baseler said.
Baseler said ongoing deregulation of the airline industry pointed to the
rise of so-called point-to-point flights, that is, direct flights
between smaller cities rather than connecting flights that feed into
larger hubs.
Airbus's McLeod laughed when asked about the "point-to-point" theory,
saying that traditional hubs were simply larger points.
"Airbus welcomes competition. I'd be interested to see what it really
is, because I don't know what it really is, but we welcome it in any
form," McLeod said.=20
=A92003 Reuters Limited.=20
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