History:
Airbus Industrie began as a consortium of European aviation firms to compete with American companies such as Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, and Lockheed. In the 1960s European aircraft manufacturers competed with each other as much as the American giants. In the mid-1960s tentative negotiations commenced regarding a European collaborative approach began.
In September 1967 the German, French and British governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to start development of the 300 seat Airbus A300. This was the second major joint aircraft programme in Europe, following the Concorde, for which no ongoing consortium was devised. An earlier announcement had been made in July 1967 but had been complicated by the British Aircraft Corp (BAC). The British government refused to back its proposed competitor, a development of the BAC 1-11 and instead supported the Airbus aircraft.
In the months following this agreement both the French and British governments expressed doubts about the aircraft. Another problem was the requirement for a new engine (to be developed by Rolls-Royce, the RB207). In December 1968 the French and British partner companies, Sud Aviation and Hawker Siddeley proposed a revised configuration, the 250 seat Airbus A250. Renamed the A300B the aircraft would not require new engines, reducing development costs.
In 1969 the British government shocked its partners by withdrawing from the project. Given the participation by Hawker Siddeley up to that point, France and Germany were reluctant to take over their wing design. Thus the British company was allowed to continue as a major subcontractor. In 1978 Britain rejoined the consortium when British Aerospace (the merged Hawker Siddeley and BAC) purchased again a 20% share of the company.
Airbus A300, the first aircraft model launched by Airbus.Formation of Airbus:
Airbus Industrie was formally set up in 1970 following an agreement between Sud-Aviation (France) and Deutsche Airbus—itself a German aerospace consortium consisting of Bölkow, Dornier, Flugzeug-Union Süd, HFB, Messerschmitt, TG Siebelwerke, and VFW[4] The grouping was joined by CASA of Spain in 1971. Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped, ready to fly items. The name "Airbus" was taken from a non-proprietary term used by the airline industry in the 1960s to refer to a commercial aircraft of a certain size and range, for this term was acceptable to the French linguistically.
In 1972 the A300 made its maiden flight and the first production model, the A300B2 entered service in 1974. Initially the success of the consortium was poor but by 1979 there were 81 aircraft in service. It was the launch of the A320 in 1981 that guaranteed Airbus as a major player in the aircraft market - the aircraft had over 400 orders before it first flew, compared to 15 for the A300 in 1972.
It was a fairly loose alliance but that changed shortly after major defence mergers in 2000. DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (successor to Deutsche Airbus), Aérospatiale-Matra(successor to Sud-Aviation) and CASA merged to form EADS. In 2001 BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) and EADS formed the Airbus Integrated Company to coincide with the development of the new Airbus A380 which will seat 555 passengers and be the world's largest commercial passenger jet when it enters service in late 2007 according to the revised schedule announced in October of 2006[5].
Product list and details (date information from Airbus):
In the list:
Aircraft Description
Seats
Max
Launch date
1st flight
1st delivery
Production to cease ;
A300
2 engine, twin aisle
228-254
361
May 1969
28 October 1972
May 1974
July 2007
A310
2 engine, twin aisle, modified A300
187
279
July 1978
3 April 1982
Dec 1985
July 2007
A318
2 engine, single aisle, shortened 6.17 m from A320
107
117
Apr 1999
15 January 2002
Oct 2003
A319
2 engine, single aisle, shortened 3.77 m from A320
124
150
June 1993
25 August 1995
Apr 1996
A320
2 engine, single aisle
150
180
Mar 1984
22 February 1987
Mar 1988
A321
2 engine, single aisle, lengthened 6.94 m from A320
185
220
Nov 1989
11 March 1993
Jan 1994
A330
2 engine, twin aisle.
253-295
406-440
June 1987
2 November 1992
Dec 1993
A340
4 engine, twin aisle
239-380
420-440
June 1987
25 October 1991
Jan 1993
A350
2 engine, twin aisle
270-350
Dec 2006
2011
mid 2013
A380
4 engine, twin aisle, double deck
555
853
2002.
Airbus is in tight competition with Boeing every year for aircraft orders. Though both manufacturers have a broad product range in various segments from single-aisle to wide-body, both manufacturers' offerings do not always compete head-to-head. Instead they respond with models a bit smaller or a bit bigger than the other in order to plug any holes in demand and achieve a better edge. The A380, for example, is designed to be a bit bigger than the 747. The A350XWB competes with the high end of the 787 and the low end of the 777. The A320 is bigger than the 737-700 but smaller than the 737-800. The A321 is bigger than the 737-900 but smaller than the previous 757-200. Airlines also see this as a benefit since they get a more complete product range from 100 seats to 500 seats than if both companies offered identical aircraft.
In recent years the Boeing 777 has outsold its Airbus counterparts, which include the A340 family as well as the A330-300. The smaller A330-200 competes with the 767, outselling its Boeing counterpart. The A380 is anticipated to further reduce sales of the Boeing 747, gaining Airbus a share of the market in very large aircraft. Boeing is building a stretched version of the 747, the 747-8, which will provide increased competition for the A380.
There are around 3,850 Airbus aircraft in service, with Airbus winning more than 50 per cent of aircraft orders in recent years. Airbus products are still outnumbered 6 to 1 by in-service Boeings (there are over 5,000 Boeing 737s alone in service). This however is indicative of historical success - Airbus made a late entry into the modern jet airliner market (1972 vs. 1958 for Boeing).
Airbus won a greater share of orders in 2003, 2004. It also delivered more aircraft in 2003, 2004, 2005 & 2006.
In 2005, Airbus made a claim to victory again with 1111 (1055 net)[17], compared to 1029 (net of 1002) for Boeing[17] However, Boeing won 55% of 2005 orders by value, due to that firm winning several important widebody sales at the expense of Airbus.
In 2006 Boeing won more orders by both measures.
Location:
The three final assembly lines of Airbus are in Toulouse(France) (two assembly lines) and Hamburg (Germany) (one assembly line). A fourth final assembly line, for the Airbus A400M, is under construction in Seville (Spain). It is estimated that this new assembly line will be operational by October 2006.
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