B/CA Show News - NBAA 2007 Day 1 - (Page 40) d1p40 FINAL 9/23/07 2:02 PM Page 1 N B A A 2 0 07 ON THE RECORD— Richard Gaona, VP for Executive and Private Aviation, Airbus Airbus Has Its Best Bizjet Year Ever Airbus has scored its best year ever for executive and VVIP aircraft, with 36 sales by the end of August pushing ACJ orders alone beyond the 100-mark, worth some $5.5 billion. The widebody tally includes the first A380 superjumbo, one A330s and five A340s. “Last year we made 20 sales plus one widebody,” said Richard Gaona, Airbus vp for Executive and Private Aviation. He claims Airbus has consistently outsold the Boeing 737-based BBJ over the last four years and is quickly reducing the lead gained by Seattle early in the program. One reason is that airline demand for the 737 is so strong that the BBJ sales team cannot pry more than six aircraft a year off the production line, and they are sold out for the next four years. But Gaona has a similar challenge: next available ACJ deliveries, he says, aren’t until 2011. So the score now stands at 125 Boeing 737based BBJs versus 100 ACJs. A major reason for Airbus’s success is the introduction of the A318 Elite as a direct challenger to such aircraft as the Gulfstream 450, Global 5000 and Falcon 900EX, priced accordingly at some $10 million less than an A319 ACJ. Airbus says the A318 Elite offers the same 4,000-nmi range of these rivals but with a 5,300 cu ft cabin volume—three times their size. The A318 Elite is also certified for a glideslope of 5.5 degrees, permitting operations into small airports such as London City. Comlux, the launch customer for the A318 Elite, is showing its aircraft here for the first time. Boeing has declined to develop a rival, saying it is already selling all the airframes it can get its hands on for the more expensive BBJ. The A318 Elite was developed in an exclusive partnership with Lufthansa Technik. The German ultra-large business jet specialist created two Richard Gaona. If today I could get ten Airbus ACJs for delivery in 2009, I would sell them all within less than two months. —Richard Gaona, Airbus vp for Executive and Private Aviation. Airbus A318 Elite in the colors of launch customer Comlux. A318 Elite Cabins in the States? With six A318 Elites sold in the U.S., Airbus says it needs an interiors manufacturing and completions center this side of the Atlantic. But the A318 Elite concept was developed exclusively with Lufthansa Technik. “We have an agreement with them, which for the moment is that our completions are done in Germany,” said Richard Gaona, Airbus vp for Executive and Private Aviation. “We would like to find, let’s say, a way to export that agreement to the U.S. as well with Lufthansa Technic, because they did a great job on the first one. “But if Lufthansa Technic cannot provide a solution for Airbus in the U.S., we will have to decide something else. “We hope we can convince them to propose us a solution in the U.S., maybe in Tulsa (with Lufthansa Technic’s subsidiary BizJet), maybe with the Petters Group.” basic cabin configurations (for either 18 or 14 passengers) plus 11 additional options that should meet virtually all potential customer needs. This “industrialization” of interiors results in much lower costs and faster completion times of about four months. That formula has been a big hit. The A318 Elite has cracked the U.S. market with an order this year for six from the Petters Group—some 25% of the A318s sold to date. Petters’ strategy is to shave delivery waits by buying aircraft it can deliver from inventory. —John Morris Airbus Undertakes Toulouse Completions Airbus has acted aggressively to address the completions crunch that could derail sales of its corporate and VIP aircraft. It formed the Airbus Corporate Jet Center in Toulouse from the former EADS Sogerma, opened it on July 1, and has already sent five orders its way. Airbus is also looking to set up a completion center in the U.S. In addition, Gore Design in San Antonio, Texas, took delivery of its first A320 for completion this year, and Fokker Services Stork in Amsterdam accepted its first green A318, having already completed an A319 for the Stumpf Group. Airbus is exploring solutions both with and without Lufthansa Technik “in case they cannot do it,” said Gaona. It’s not just a question of capacity, although demand for the A318 Elite is outstripping Lufthansa Technik’s capabilities. “For the U.S. market we need a solution in the U.S.,” said Gaona. “Customers like to go and have a look at their completion in progress from time to time.” 40 September 25, 2007 www.aviationweek.com/shownews http://www.aviationweek.com/shownews
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