Rivals battle for super-jet orders

By DANIEL RIORDAN

It is the ultimate fight over big boys' toys - Boeing and Airbus, heavyweights of the skies, slugging it out in a super-sized aircraft market worth more than this country's gross domestic product.

And they would like to snare Air New Zealand as a customer, never mind that the first of their giant planes will not be ready for five years.

For 30 years, Boeing had the fat end of the market to itself. The Seattle-based company's 747 jumbo became synonymous with big passenger planes.

But in the past six months the Europeans have challenged that dominance with plans to build flying gin palaces more akin to ocean liners than jets.

Toulouse-based Airbus Industrie's double-decker A380 will have staircases and wider aisles and sometimes even gyms, casinos and lounges. It will carry up to 555 passengers and will sell, fully fitted, for about $500 million.

From Seattle, Boeing is fighting tooth and nail to convince airlines that a modified version of its flagship, the stretch jumbo, is still the best option. Seating 505 (compared to the 747-400's 416), it is slightly cheaper than the A380 but no takers have yet signed up.

Airbus claims the A380 will offer 15 to 20 per cent lower operating costs than Boeing's 747-400, 10 to 15 per cent more range, up to 35 per cent more seating and 49 per cent more floor space.

Boeing claims its stretch jumbo will be 10 per cent cheaper per trip and 2 to 3 per cent cheaper per seat.

Airbus is winning the fight for customers, picking up 50 orders and 42 options from Air France, Emirates, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and International Lease Finance Corporation, which leases aircraft to airlines.

Reports at the weekend from the United States said that FedEx was close to ordering up to 10 cargo-carrying versions of the A380.

Air New Zealand's arch-rival, Qantas, is buying 12 A380s and 19 other Airbus planes, for delivery between 2006 and 2011, to handle growth on selected long-haul routes. The total cost, including start-up expenses, infrastructure and parts, is about $11 billion.

But Air New Zealand has yet to indicate whether it sees its long-term needs being best met by Airbus or Boeing.

Although its subsidiary Ansett operates Airbus planes, Air New Zealand has none. It and Japan Air Lines have the only all-Boeing international fleets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ironically, it was Air New Zealand's 25 per cent shareholder, Singapore Airlines, which made the A380 viable when it decided in October to put in an order worth $8.6 billion.

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