Airbus Targets More A380 Sales From Singapore Air
Airbus aims to talk to Singapore Airlines over the purchase of up to 15 additional A380 superjumbos and 20 A330 or A350 widebody planes, the European planemaker’s chief salesman said on Thursday.
"I would think (Singapore Airlines) will definitely need another 10 to 15 A380 category aircraft, and I think they need at least 20 more aircraft in the A330, A350 category," Airbus Chief Operating Office John Leahy told reporters on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow.
Singapore Air has on order 19 A380 superjumbos, 20 of the A350, and 20 A330s, Leahy said. The carrier is Airbus’s first customer for the A380 — the world’s largest passenger jet — and took delivery of its first aircraft last October.
On Wednesday, Airbus chief Tom Enders said the company expects new orders to halve to 700 this year, including 30 A380s and over 100 A350s, after a record order intake in 2007.
Leahy said 15 of the 30 A380s that Airbus is targeting to sell this year will be to Asian airlines, and that Airbus is targeting to sell at least 10 A380s to Air India.
Airbus and Boeing are competing for a slice of the Asian aviation market, projected to become the world’s largest in two years.
Boeing has unveiled over USD$6 billion worth of orders at the airshow, including 10 Boeing 777s worth USD$2 billion to Garuda Indonesia, and 56 737s worth USD$4.4 billion to Lion Air.
