Wide Bodied strategy for Boeing & Airbus

Macau, 17^th of july 2014
 
The wide bodied market has continued to be a hotly contested area of the aviation industry. Boeing, who launched the worlds first wide bodied aircraft(The Boeing 747) in 1969, has a larger market share than Airbus at this moment.
 

Orders yet to be delivered


Whilst the narrow bodied market is considerably larger than the wide bodied market, the profit margins on the wide bodied aircraft is larger, making it extremely attractive for both Boeing and Airbus. Whilst Airbus has created the A380, the largest passenger aircraft for sale today, Boeing has prduced the 787 Dreamliner, which is considerably smaller, 323 vs 515 passenger in a three class configuration, but also extremely fuel efficient.


Figures are taken from typical 3 class seating configurations

Speaking at the Farnborough Airshow on the 17^th of July 2014, Randy Tinseth, Boeings marketing Vice President said that  ''In terms of our widebodied strategy, I think we completed it last year, with the launch of the 787-10, as well as the triple 7 X families. ….from 2 to 5 hundred seats we have a complete line of products that complement each other in terms of their size, in terms of their range, in terms of their efficiency, in terms of their economics.
 

Airbus A350-900

Airbus seems to be reacting to Boeings aircraft; the A330Neo has been pushed forward in order to compete with the 787, the older A330 was extremely uneconomic by comparison, and is said by airbus to be even more fuel economical than the 787 but industry experts have placed question marks at this claim. Meanwhile emirates recently withdrew its order for 20 A350-1000 and 50 A350-900.
 
Alan Pardoe, head of Marketing & Communications at Airbus, defended his companies position. People like to talk about threats from competing airoplanes. What counts the most in this business is having a set, having a family of airoplanes which matches what our costumers tell us they want. With the 330NEO, newly launched, the 350 family of airoplanes and the 380, that corresponds perfectly to what our customers tell us they want.
 
F.C. Brun
Mr. Brun is a Resident Research Fellow and Executive Council Member