Says Airlines Want To Lower The Cost-Per-Seat On Existing Routes

An Airbus executive says that the company thinks airlines will begin looking at larger aircraft as they seek to lower their cost-per-seat on existing routes.

Airbus' director for strategic marketing and analysis Andrew Gordon said in an interview in Helsinki that there has been an "upscaling" in the airplanes that are being sold. He told Bloomberg News that the changes are being "driven by existing routes getting bigger as well as airlines lowering their seat costs." He said the trend is factored into the planemaker's sales forecasts.

In a presentation at the Finnish capital, Gordon said Airbus forecasts that traffic through Finland will increase some 3.7 percent each year through 2031. He said that company estimates 536 new commercial airliners will be delivered in Nordic countries in that same period, with a market value of nearly $57 billion.

As a example, Norwegian Air Shuttle AS has ordered 222 new airliners split between Boeing and Airbus in January of last year. That order included some 787s. Finnair Oyj has ordered 11 A350 XWB airplanes, which it says are "vital" to the airline's future plans for increased long-haul routes.

FMI: www.airbus.com