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January 19, 2005
Super airliner wars hots up
The Super airliner wars have opened in earnest, after Airbus finally revealed their A380 "super-jumbo" aircraft in an opening ceremony, that also served as a warning shot to US rival, Boeing.
With a projected seating capacity of almost 50% more than the Boeing 747, the Airbus A380 project is intended to provide the dominant single aircraft carrier in the 600-800 seater range.
Announced in 1999, with parts and construction carried out across the UK, France, Germany, and Spain, in a deployment of work that catered to political senstivities, the Airbus A380 project is over-budget, at around 12 billion euros.
However, market demand is strong, and there are existing orders for 149 versions of the plane on the books, with more than 40 alone for Emirates airlines.
Boeing are already updating their 747 range to hold onto some significant market share, but despite a basic design that has survived nearly 40 years, the company has also been working on a different new major project.
Dubbed the 7E7 Dreamliner, Boeing's next big move is to offer a passenger plane that carries fewer passengers, but at longer distances, cutting out the need for connecting flights in flight distances of less than 15,000 miles. Fifty planes have already been ordered by All Nippon Airways.
Both the Airbus 380 will undergo its first full test flight - and the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner officially launched - in April of this year.
IMG: Airbus A380 (left) and the Boeing 7E7 Dreamliner (right):
 
Posted by at January 19, 2005 06:11 PM
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