Airbus To Announce Changes In Two Months

The fallout over a rumored halt in the A350 program as Airbus contemplates a total redesign of the slow-selling airliner -- billed as the company's answer to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner -- continues, as one of its biggest customers, Qatar Airways, is reportedly rethinking its order.

After placing an order for 60 of the next-generation aircraft at last year's Paris Air Show -- making the Middle Eastern airline the European consortium's largest A350 customer -- Qatar now says it's reconsidering that $10 billion order -- which could be a major blow to Airbus.

Qatar CEO Akbar Al-Baker said his airline is still committed to the deal, but won't put money down on the order until he knows just what a redesigned A350 will look like.

"We have not signed a purchase agreement because we cannot ... purchase an aeroplane which is undefined," Baker told Reuters. "The definition will change, the performance will change, the fuel burn will change. So many things will change that the aeroplane that we signed for in last September is not there anymore. So we have to, of course, review all our options."

Even if Qatar keeps its order, however, there's still the matter of the expected delay should Airbus go ahead with redesigning the A350 -- as is becoming increasingly likely.

"However, this puts us in a dilemma, because we will get an aeroplane nearly ... two years later than originally envisaged," said Baker.

"And of course we will have to go to the market and buy aeroplanes that would fill in the gap, or else even look at an alternative because airlines cannot freeze their plans because a manufacturer cannot deliver in the time that we require," Baker added.

That could mean more orders for the A350's Boeing competitor, the 787... or (and perhaps more likely), Qatar could convert its A350 orders to another Airbus aircraft. Faced with a similar predicament regarding its orders for another slow-selling Airbus plane -- an upgraded variant of the A340-600 -- Qatar's main rival, Emirates, decided to switch those orders to the upcoming A380 instead.

As far as it's plans for the A350, Airbus says it will announce changes to the plane in the next two months -- perhaps at the Farnborough Air Show.

FMI: www.qatarairways.com, www.airbus.com, Read ANN's Coverage Of The A350 Dilemma