A350 XWB To Compete With Boeing 777X

Airbus CEO Mr. Bregier is not professing much concern about Boeing’s consideration of a 777X, which he describes as a “nice paper tiger aircraft” at this point because of the lack of details. 

Airbus believes it has the lead in that area of the market with its A350-1000 plans. His belief is that the A350-1000, which Airbus is starting to “market more aggressively,” can match the range of the 777-300ER with 25% less fuel burn.

“The ball is now in Boeing’s camp, not in our camp,” he says. Airbus will wait to find out details of the offer and guarantees Boeing makes to potential customers regarding the 777X before deciding whether it needs to come up with any response, Bregier says.

The A350-1000 was launched to replace A340-600s and to compete with the 777-300ER. The 777X will be in the future a big competence and Airbus could launch a bigger stretch as a response, instead of the A350-800 that was planned to compete with the 787-9 (already being manufactured) and to replace the A330-200.

Bregier said he remains satisfied with Airbus' decision to extend the range and increase the maximum takeoff weight of the A330 to make it more competitive on routes such as London to Southeast Asia, rather than opting for an A330NEO.