Thursday, December 10, 2015

Airlines Jockeying Over Which Will Introduce Airbus A320neo First • Lufthansa, Qatar Airways saying they expect to be in role

The Wall Street Journal
By ROBERT WALL
Dec. 10, 2015 2:22 p.m. ET


Unusual jockeying has broken out over what airline will  be first to introduce the Airbus Group SE A320neo, with Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Qatar Airways saying they expect to be in the role.

Qatar Airways was the lead customer, though it had considered delaying receipt of the plane, people familiar with the matter said. That drove Airbus and Lufthansa to begin talks for the German carrier to step into the role, the people said.

A Lufthansa spokesman on Thursday said it now expects to be the first airline to receive an A320neo plane.

Qatar Airways last week said  it “looks forward to being the launch customer of the A320neo as scheduled, before the end of the year" and Thursday said it had nothing to add to that statement.

Airbus had long promised investors it would deliver the first of the new planes this year. It should still make that commitment, the people said.

The Toulouse-based plane maker said it left it to airlines to disclose their plans.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker has a reputation as a demanding customer. Last year, he held off taking delivery of Airbus’s first A350 long-range jet for several days after insisting on last minute fixes to some onboard items.

Qatar Airways  has ordered 50 A320neo, or new engine option, planes.

Airbus typically orchestrates who receives milestone deliveries and last year identified Qatar Airways as the first operator of the A320neo.

The plane is an upgrade of Airbus’s popular single-aisle family. The aircraft maker is introducing new engines and other enhancements to boost fuel efficiency. The company said the A320neo should be 15% more efficient than planes it replaces.

Lufthansa is a major customer for Airbus’s new single-aisle plane. The German carrier has ordered 101 of the upgraded jets, with plans to take 61 A320neo models and 40 of the slightly larger A321neo version, according to Airbus’s order book.

Both the European Aviation Safety Agency and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration last month granted the so-called type certification for A320neo planes powered by PW1100G engines from Pratt & Whitney, the engine unit of United Technologies Corp. Those approvals clear the way for plane deliveries.

Trade publication Aviation Week on Thursday said Qatar Airways had issues with the Pratt & Whitney engine that caused it to consider postponing delivery.

The engine maker said “along with Airbus, we are continuing to work with early customers on the first delivery of the aircraft. The team is on track to deliver the first A320neo this year,” it said, without naming the operator.

Airbus also is working with a joint venture of General Electric Co. and France’s Safran SA on an alternative engine offering for the A320neo family of jetliners. Planes powered by that engine are due for first customer deliveries next year.

If Lufthansa moves into the first slot for A320neo deliveries it would be the second time the airline this year agreed to step into the breach for a plane maker to become the first operator of a new aircraft model. The airline this year agreed that its Swiss International Air Lines unit would become the inaugural user of Bombardier Inc.’s CSeries plane. The Swiss carrier should receive its first of the Canadian planes next year.

Boeing Co. also is working on an engine upgrade to its 737 narrowbody planes. The first 737 Max is due for delivery in 2017 and was unveiled this week.

The upgraded narrowbody is Airbus’s fastest selling program. The company has booked more than 4,300 firm orders for the plane. The European plane maker recently announced plans to boost single-aisle production to 60 planes a month from mid-2019. It currently builds 42 narrow-body aircraft a month.

Original article can be found here:   http://www.wsj.com

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