Newsday.com: A380 Set for Maiden Flight Before 50,000

Newsday.com: A380 Set for Maiden Flight Before 50,000: "The A380, with a catalogue price of $282 million, represents a huge bet that international airlines will need bigger aircraft to transport passengers between ever-busier hub airports. But some analysts say signs of a boom in the market for smaller wide-body planes, such as Boeing's long-range 787 'Dreamliner,' show that Airbus was wrong to focus so much time and money on its superjumbo.

'If the A380 costs Airbus the mid-market then it's the biggest misinvestment in aerospace history since Concorde,' said Richard Aboulafia of the U.S. consultancy Teal Group. 'The way the market's changing makes this look more like a science fair project every day.' "

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Is Airbus In Crisis Mode?

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Is Airbus In Crisis Mode?: "Back around 1999-2000-2001, when both Boeing and Airbus were deciding what airframe would be the future of their respective companies for the next 10 years, Boeing chose wisely and Airbus chose poorly. Airbus, flush with injected R&D cash from European government subsidies, had to pour their money into something big, and chose the behemoth A380. Much as with the decision to build the Concorde back in the early 1970s, they decided more based on spending their subsidies than on what customers want. The Concorde, after proving to be a technological triumph but an economic disaster, ultimately failed to even reach the 20-order mark.

Boeing, on the other hand, focused more on the trends apparent even then (pre-9/11) that would shape the airline industry of the 21st century. Among the trends of which I speak: over-flying existing hubs (particularly in Europe and Asia), transpacific staging (moving from all 747s from LAX and SFO to 777s from all over the US), and a combination of bilateral liberalization (lots of Open Skies) and expanding airports (HKG, NRT, SIN, etc.) leading to more frequency and smaller aircraft."

Boeing: End of an Age? Not a cahnce

Boeing: End of an Age? Not a cahnce: "Commonality while beneficial is not as big of an issue as fuel efficiency. Fuel is quickly becoming the #1 cost for airlines, getting fuel efficient birds is far more important than having commonality (and it always has been more important). This has been illustrated by airlines like NW who are choosing the 787 over the A350"

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Airbus A350 Configuration & Design Details

Airliners.net Civil Aviation: Airbus A350 Configuration & Design Details: "If you can't incorperate composite technology (for any combination of RD cost, lack of confidence, etc), may as well spin it into positive marketing in the form of 'low risk'... exactly like the 'quad superiority' we saw only a short while ago. 777's aren't falling in the oceans, and that PR campaing is widely regarded as a joke"