May Ask Airbus For An Upgrade Of The Widebody Airliner

Air Lease Corp says it would like to discuss a new version of the widebody A330 airliner with Airbus, according to a senior company executive.

Reuters reports that Air Lease President and COO John Plueger said that the company is "interested in that airplane" on the sidelines of the IATA meeting being held in Doha.

Airbus so far has kept mum on the issue of a potential re-engined A330. There is reportedly an internal debate over whether to offer a single engine, or multiple choices, according to industry sources.

Plueger and other industry executives said the success of such an airplane would come down to how much it costs. The engine choices ... likely to include one from Rolls-Royce and one from GE ... would be driven by how many of the airplanes Airbus thinks it can sell. Engine makers are reluctant to develop an engine for an airplane that may prove to be a slow seller.

Air Lease CEO Steven Udvar-Hazy said that he sees the potential for Airbus to sell 1,100 to 1,200 upgraded A330s, but Airbus CEO Tom Enders was less optimistic in an interview in May, when he said sales of such an airplane would likely number in the "hundreds."

FMI: http://airleasecorp.com, www.airbus.com