Airbus aims to launch its midsized A350 model by the end of September, parent firm EADS said Wednesday, dashing hopes of a formal go-ahead at next week’s Paris air show.
The planemaker has been forced to make sweeping changes to its proposed design for the A350 after airlines showed little interest, opting instead for Boeing Co.’s 787 Dreamliner, which is due in 2008.
But EADS said it and Airbus’ other shareholder, BAE Systems, still expect their boards to approve the revised program, which was initially forecast at 3 billion euros ($3.7 billion).
“The board confirmed its willingness to proceed towards the full industrial launch of the program with its partner BAE Systems by the end of September,” EADS said in a statement.
Analysts said delays of up to six months in finishing the 12 billion euro development of the mammoth A380 were also having a ripple effect on the A350.
“It’s clear they did not expect to be doing this,” said one London-based brokerage aerospace analyst, referring to simultaneous work on the A380 and A350.
The company is also working up a freighter version of the A380 and developing the A400M military transport plane.
The twin-engine A350, which is being designed to offer lower operating costs and greater range than the current A330, has also grown into a more ambitious project.
A spokeswoman for Airbus said the A350 is now 90 percent new, a far cry from a plan laid out in December to simply upgrade the A330.
It will be 37 percent lightweight composite materials — almost twice the level of its most advanced model, the A380.
Delivery in 2010 remains the target for the A350, the spokeswoman told Reuters.
The biennial Paris air show is always a feisty battle between Airbus and archrival Boeing, with the French company unveiling almost $20 billion in new orders last time.
A clash between Europe and Washington over planemaker subsidies has added to anticipation ahead of this year’s event.
Orders for the A350 model are expected to be a highlight, with carriers Emirates and Qatar Airways among those considering the plane.
Airbus needs to secure enough orders to win shareholder approval to start construction. Boeing last year announced it would go ahead with the 787 after securing a deal for 50 planes.
Boeing has secured 266 commitments from 21 customers.
Officially, Airbus has just one commitment for the A350 from Spain’s Air Europa for 10 planes and two options.
A deal with carrier America West is in the works and analysts expect large aircraft lessor International Lease Finance Corp. to also consider the plane.
BAE, which owns 20 percent of Airbus, said on Wednesday that Airbus had lined up 100 commitments for the plane.
The showdown over subsidies, which threatens to become the biggest fight in the World Trade Organization’s 10-year history, stems from the planemaker’s plans to tap European state loans to cover a third of the A350’s development costs.
“Airbus has not yet made any final decision on the financing,” BAE said in a statement.
