Airbus Chief Operating Officer (COO) Fabrice Bregier Thursday
said that the European aircraft manufacturer and its main American
rival Boeing "will remain as the two major global players ten years
from now" given the challenges of making planes.
Asked about possible delays in the construction of the new
Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Airbus official said "somehow, it makes
me happy because it means that ten years from now, Boeing and
Airbus, which are at loggerheads in terms of competition, will
still be the two major global players in the industry."
"There are ongoing plans in both Russia and China," said
Bregier, nevertheless adding that "to develop an aircraft like the
A350 or the A380 is an enormous task, which cannot be undertaken
overnight, it's unlikely that we will have a new global entrant at
this level anytime soon."
The China Aviation Industry Corporation, Russia's Sukhoi and
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are all in the process of
developing small to medium-sized aircraft, while Canada's
Bombardier and Brazil's Embraer have carved out a niche for
themselves for small business jets.
Regarding any additional relocations, the Airbus COO, who is
also a member of the EADS executive committee, reiterated that the
company would continue pushing forward and even "enhance" its
relocation plans.
"Just like Boeing, all our sales are quoted in dollars. At the
moment, the only way to remain competitive is to produce more
outside Europe," Bregier said, however indicating that "a
relocation of the Toulouse office is not on the cards."
Turning to the issue of funding the construction of A350,
Bregier described "the funding situation as very positive," but
added that it was necessary to receive "financial support from our
states."
"With 787 dreamliner, Boeing, either directly or through its
partners, managed to produce the most subsidized aircraft in the
world. We have nothing to be ashamed of compared to what the
Americans are doing," said Bregier, adding that Airbus had mixed
fortunes in 2007.
"On the one hand, the exchange rate between the euro and the
dollar will make us suffer in the long run, while on the other
hand, we successfully launched the Power8 initiative in 2007 and
managed to surpass our goals in terms of cost reductions." said
Bregier.
(Xinhua News Agency January 18, 2008)
