'Airbus
S.A.S.' is the
aircraft manufacturing subsidiary of
EADS N.V., a pan-European aerospace concern. Based at
Toulouse,
France with significant operations in other European states, Airbus produces around half of the world's jet
airliners, with most of the rest built by rival
Boeing Commercial Airplanes, though the precise share varies on an annual basis. The name is pronounced in
English,

ltspkr.png
in
French, and in
German.
Airbus began as a consortium of aerospace manufacturers. Consolidation of European defence and aerospace companies around the turn of the century allowed the establishment of a simplified joint stock company in 2001, owned by EADS (80%) and
BAE Systems (20%). After a protracted sale process BAE sold its share to EADS on
13 October 2006.
[2]
Airbus employs around 57,000 people at sixteen sites in four European countries:
Germany,
France, the
United Kingdom, and
Spain. Final assembly production occurs at
Toulouse (France) and
Hamburg (Germany). Airbus also has three subsidiaries in the
USA,
Japan and
China.
History
''Airbus Industrie'' began as a
consortium of
European aviation firms to compete with
American companies such as
Boeing,
McDonnell Douglas, and
Lockheed.
Until the late 1960s, European aircraft manufacturers competed with each other as much as American companies. While many European aircraft were innovative, even the most successful had comparatively small production runs.
[3] In 1991, Jean Pierson then CEO and Managing Director of Airbus Industrie, described a number of factors which explained the dominant position of American aircraft manufacturers; The land mass of the United States made air transport the increasingly dominant mode of travel; a 1942 Anglo-American agreement entrusted transport aircraft production to the US; and World War II had left America with "a profitable, vigorous, powerful and structured aeronautical industry."
In the mid-1960s, tentative negotiations commenced regarding a European collaborative approach. At the 1965
Paris Air Show major European airlines informally discussed their requirements for a new short- to medium-range "airbus". European aircraft manufactuters were aware of the risks of such a development and began to accept, along with their governments, that collaboration was required to offer such an aircraft and to compete with the US manufacturers.
[4] The same year Hawker Siddeley (at the urging of the UK government) teamed with Breguet and Nord to study airbus designs. The Hawker Siddeley/Breguet/Nord groups HBN 100 became the basis for the continuation of the project. By 1966 the partners were Sud Aviation (France), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Airbus, later Deutsche Airbus (Germany) and Hawker Siddeley (UK).
A request for funding was made to the three governments in October 1966.
By early 1967 the "A300" label began to be applied and the proposal developed into a 320 seater, twin engined airliner.
On 25 July 1967 the three governments agreed to proceed to the definition stage with the mission statement:
Shortly after the agreement,
Roger Béteille was appointed technical director of the A300 project.
[5] Béteille developed a division of labour which would be the basis of Airbus' production for years to come: France would manufacture the cockpit, flight control and the lower centre section of the fuselage; Hawker Siddeley, whose
Trident technology had impressed him, was to manufacture the wings; Germany should make the forward and rear fuselage sections, as well as the upper centre section; The Dutch would make the flaps and spoilers; finally Spain (yet to become a full parnter) would make the horizontal tailplane.
On
26 September 1967 the German, French and British governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding in London which allowed continued development studies. This also confirmed Sud Aviation as the "lead company", that France and the UK would each have a 37.5% workshare with Germany taking 25%, and that
Rolls-Royce would manufacture the engines.
In the two years following this agreement, both the British and French governments expressed doubts about the project. The MoU had stated that 75 orders must be achieved by 31 July 1968. However lukewarm airline support for a 300 seat Airbus A300 lead to the partners submitting the A250 proposal (what became the A300B) for a 250 seat airliner powered by existing engines.
This dramatically reduced development costs, as the Rolls-Royce RB207 represented a large proportion of those costs. The RB207 had also suffered difficulties, Rolls-Royce was concentrating its efforts on the development of the related
RB211 for the
Lockheed L-1011.
[6] The French government threatened to withdraw from the project due to the concern over funding development of the Airbus A300,
Concorde and the
Dassault Mercure concurrently, but was persuaded otherwise.
Having announced its concern at the A300B proposal in December 1968, and fearing it would not recoup its investment due to lack of sales, the British government announced its withdrawal on
10 April 1969.
Germany took this opportunity to increase its share of the project to 50%.
Given the participation by Hawker Siddeley up to that point, France and Germany were reluctant to take over its wing design. Thus the British company was allowed to continue as a privileged subcontractor.
Hawker Siddeley invested
GB£35 million in tooling and, requiring more capital, received a GB£35 million loan from the German government.
Formation of Airbus Industrie

Airbus A300, the first aircraft model launched by Airbus.
'Airbus Industrie' was formally established as a Groupement d'Interest Economique (Economic Interest Group or GIE) on
18 December 1970.
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. Aerospatiale and Deutsche Airbus each took a 36.5% share of production work, Hawker Siddeley 20% and Fokker-VFW 7%.
Each company would deliver its sections as fully equipped, ready to fly items. In October 1971
CASA acquired a 4.2% share of Airbus Industrie, with Aerospatiale and Deutsche Airbus reducing their stakes to 47.9%.
In January 1979 British Aerospace, which had absorbed Hawker Siddeley in 1977, acquired a 20% share of Airbus Industrie. The majority shareholders reduced their shares to 37.9%, while CASA retained its 4.2%.
[7]
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 the status of 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.
Transition to Airbus SAS
The retention of production and engineering assets by the partner companies in effect made Airbus Industrie a sales and marketing company.
[8] This arrangement also lead to ineffiencies due to the inherent conflict of interest that the four partner companies faced; They were both GIE shareholders and subcontractors to the consortium. The companies collaborated on development of the Airbus range, however they guarded the financial details of their own production activities and sought to maximise the transfer prices of their sub-assemblies.
[9][10]
In the early 1990s then Airbus CEO Jean Pierson argued that the GIE should be abandoned and Airbus established as a conventional company. However the difficulties of integrating and valuing the assets of four companies as well as legal issues delayed the initiative. In December 1998, when it was reported that British Aerospace and DASA were close to merging, Aérospatiale paralysed negotiations on the Airbus conversion; The French company feared the combined BAe/DASA, which would own 57.9% of Airbus, would dominate the company and it insisted on a 50/50 split.
[11] However the issue was resolved in January 1999 when BAe abandoned talks with DASA in favour of merging with
Marconi Electronic Systems to become
BAE Systems. Then in 2000 three of the four partner companies (
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, successor to Deutsche Airbus;
Aérospatiale-Matra, successor to Sud-Aviation; and CASA) merged to form
EADS, simplifying the process. EADS now owned Airbus France, Airbus Deutschland and Airbus Espana, and thus 80% of Airbus Industrie.
BAE Systems and EADS transferred their production assets to the new company, Airbus SAS, in return for shareholdings in that company.
BAE sale and A380 controversy

Airbus A380, the largest passenger jet in the world, is set to enter commercial service in 2007.
On
6 April 2006 BBC News reported that BAE Systems was selling again its share, then "conservatively valued" at
€3.5 billion (
US$$4.17 bn).
[12] The move was seen by many analysts as a move to make partnerships with U.S. firms more feasible, in both financial and political terms.
[13] BAE originally sought to agree a price with EADS through an informal process. However due to the slow pace of negotiations and disagreements over price, BAE exercised its
put option which saw investment bank
Rothschild appointed to give an independent valuation.
In June 2006, Airbus became embroiled in a significant international controversy over its announcement of a further delay in the delivery of its A380. In the wake of the announcement, the value of associated stock plunged by up to a quarter in a matter of days, although it soon recovered somewhat. Allegations of insider trading on the part of
Noël Forgeard, CEO of EADS, its majority corporate parent, promptly followed. The loss of associated value caused great concern on the part of BAE, ''
The Independent'' describing a "furious row" between BAE and EADS, with BAE believing the announcement was designed to depress the value of its share.
[14] A French shareholder group filed a class action lawsuit against EADS in a Dutch court for failing to inform investors of the financial implications of the A380 delays while airlines to which deliveries were promised are expected to demand compensation.
[15] As a result, EADS chief
Noël Forgeard and Airbus
CEO Gustav Humbert announced their resignations on
2 July 2006.
[16] Forgeard's severance package is expected to include three years of salary plus the 2005 bonus; a total of at least €6 million, possibly topping €7 million.
On
2 July 2006 Rothschild valued BAE's stake at £1.9 billion (€2.75 billion); well below the expectation of BAE, analysts and even EADS.
[17] On
5 July BAE appointed independent auditors to study why the value of its share of Airbus had fallen from the original estimates to the Rothschild valuation. They pushed back any potential sale until September at the earliest.
[18] On 6 September 2006 BAE agreed to sell its stake in Airbus to EADS for £1.87 billion (€2.75 billion, $3.53 billion), pending BAE shareholder approval.
[19] On 4 October shareholders voted in favour of the sale.
[20]
On
9 October 2006 Christian Streiff, Humbert's successor, resigned due to differences with parent company EADS over the amount of independence he would be granted in implementing his reorganization plan for Airbus. He will be succeeded by EADS co-CEO
Louis Gallois. This brings Airbus under more direct control of its parent company.
2007 restructuring
On February 28, 2007, CEO Louis Gallois announced the company's restructuring plans. Entitled Power
8, the plan would see 10,000 jobs cut over four years; 4,300 in France, 3,700 in Germany, 1,600 in the UK and 400 in Spain. 5,000 of the 10,000 would be at sub contractors. Plants at
Saint Nazaire,
Varel and
Laupheim face sell off or closure, while
Meaulte,
Nordenham and
Filton are "open to investors".
[21] The announcements have resulted in Airbus unions in France to strike, with German Airbus workers possibly following
[1].

Airbus A320, the first model in the A318, A319, A320 and A321 range of airliners
Civilian products
The Airbus product line started with the
A300, the world's first twin-aisle, twin-engined aircraft. A shorter, re-winged, re-engined variant of the
A300 is known as the
A310. Building on its success, Airbus launched the
A320 with its innovative
fly-by-wire control system. The A320 has been, and continues to be, a great commercial success. The A318 and A319 are shorter derivatives with some of the latter under construction for the corporate ''biz-jet'' market (
Airbus Corporate Jet). A stretched version is known as the A321 and is proving competitive with later models of the Boeing 737.
The longer range products, the twin-jet
A330 and the four-engine
A340, have efficient wings, enhanced by
winglets. The Airbus
A340-500 has an operating range of 16 700 kilometres (9000 nautical miles), the second longest range of any commercial jet after the
Boeing 777-200LR (range of 17 446 km or 9420 nautical miles). The company is particularly proud of its use of
fly-by-wire technologies and the common cockpit and systems in use throughout the aircraft family, which make it much easier to train crew.
Airbus is studying a replacement for the A320 series, tentatively dubbed
NSR, for "New Short-Range aircraft."
[22]
In July 2007, Airbus delivered its last A300 to FedEx, marking the end of the A300/A310 production line. Airbus intends to relocate Toulouse A320 final assembly activity to Hamburg, and A350/A380 production in the opposite direction as part of its
Power8 organization plan begun under ex-CEO
Christian Streiff.
[23]
Until its retirement in 2003, Airbus supplied replacement parts and service for the
Concorde.
'Product list and details (date information from Airbus)'| ' 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 | 156 | 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 expected | mid-2013 |
| A380 | 4 engine, double deck, quad aisle | 555 | 853 | 2002 | 27 April 2005 | Oct 2007 |
Competition with Boeing
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 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 in recent years. The A380 is anticipated to further reduce sales of the Boeing 747, gaining Airbus a share of the market in very large aircraft, though frequent delays in in the A380 program have caused several customers to consider the refreshed
747-8.
[24] Airbus has also proposed the
A350XWB to compete with the fast-selling
Boeing 787, after being under great pressure from airlines to produce a competing model.
There are around 4,463 Airbus
aircraft in service, with Airbus managing to win over 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)
[25], compared to 1029 (net of 1002) for Boeing
[26] 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. Airbus regained parity as of mid-2007.
Orders
| 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 |
| Airbus | 824 | 1111 | 370 | 284 | 300 | 375 | 520 | 476 | 556 | 460 | 326 | 106 | 125 | 38 | 136 | 101 | 404 | 421 |
| Boeing | 1044 | 1002 | 272 | 239 | 251 | 314 | 588 | 355 | 606 | 543 | 708 | 441 | 125 | 236 | 266 | 273 | 533 | 716 |
Deliveries
| 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | 1992 | 1991 | 1990 | 1989 |
| Airbus | 434 | 378 | 320 | 305 | 303 | 325 | 311 | 294 | 229 | 182 | 126 | 124 | 123 | 138 | 157 | 163 | 95 | 105 |
| Boeing | 398 | 290 | 285 | 281 | 381 | 527 | 491 | 620 | 563 | 375 | 271 | 256 | 312 | 409 | 572 | 606 | 527 | 402 |
Subsidies
Boeing has continually protested over "launch aid" and other forms of government aid to Airbus, while Airbus has argued that Boeing receives illegal subsidies through military and research contracts and tax breaks.
In July 2004
Harry Stonecipher (then-Boeing
CEO) accused Airbus of abusing a 1992 bilateral EU-US agreement providing for disciplines for large civil aircraft support from governments. Airbus is given reimbursable launch investment (RLI, called "launch aid" by the US) from European governments with the money being paid back with interest, plus indefinite royalties, but only if the aircraft is a commercial success
[27]. Airbus contends that this system is fully compliant with the 1992 agreement and
WTO rules. The agreement allows up to 33 per cent of the programme cost to be met through government loans which are to be fully repaid within 17 years with interest and royalties. These loans are held at a minimum interest rate equal to the cost of government borrowing plus 0.25%, which would be below market rates available to Airbus without government support
[28]. Airbus claims that since the signature of the EU-U.S. Agreement in 1992, it has repaid European governments more than U.S.$6.7 billion and that this is 40% more than it has received.
[29].
Airbus argues that the
pork barrel military contracts awarded to Boeing (the second largest U.S. defence contractor) are in effect a form of subsidy (see the Boeing
KC-767 military contracting controversy). The significant U.S. government support of technology development via
NASA also provides significant support to Boeing, as does the large tax breaks offered to Boeing which some claim are in violation of the 1992 agreement and
WTO rules. In its recent products such as the
787, Boeing has also been offered direct financial support from local and state governments.
[30] However it has been argued that in U.S. government support of technology development, anyone can benefit from the results; even Airbus can benefit from them.
In January 2005 the European Union and United States trade representatives,
Peter Mandelson and
Robert Zoellick (since replaced by
Rob Portman) respectively, agreed to talks aimed at resolving the increasing tensions. These talks were not successful with the dispute becoming more acrimonious rather than approaching a settlement.
World Trade Organization litigation
On
31 May 2005 the
United States filed a case against the
European Union for providing allegedly illegal subsidies to Airbus. Twenty-four hours later the European Union filed a complaint against the United States protesting support for Boeing.
[31]
Portman (from the USA) and Mandelson (from the EU) issued a joint statement stating: ''"We remain united in our determination that this dispute shall not affect our cooperation on wider bilateral and multilateral trade issues. We have worked together well so far, and intend to continue to do so."''
Tensions increased by the support for the Airbus A380 have erupted into a potential trade war due to the upcoming launch of the Airbus A350. Airbus would ideally like the A350 programme to be launched with the help of state loans covering a third of the development costs although it has stated it will launch without these loans if required. The A350 will compete with Boeing's most successful project in recent years, the 787 Dreamliner.
EU trade officials are questioning the funding provided by NASA, the Department of Defense (in particular in the form of R&D contracts that benefited Boeing) as well as funding from US states (in particular the State of Washington, the State of Kansas and the State of Illinois) for the launch of Boeing aircraft, in particular the
787.
Military products
Main articles: Airbus Military
In January 1999 Airbus established a separate company, Airbus Military S.A.S., to undertake development and production of a turboprop powered
tactical transport aircraft (the
Airbus Military A400M.) The A400M is being developed by several
NATO members,
Belgium,
France,
Germany,
Luxembourg,
Spain,
Turkey, and the
UK, as an alternative to the
C-130 Hercules. Expansion in the military aircraft market will reduce, but not negate, Airbus' exposure to the effects of cyclical downturns in civil aviation.
International manufacturing presence
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.
Airbus, however, has a number of other plants in different European locations, reflecting its foundation as a consortium. An original solution to the problem of moving aircraft parts between the different factories and the assembly plants is the use of "
Beluga" specially enlarged jets, capable of carrying entire sections of fuselage of Airbus aircraft. This solution has also been investigated by Boeing, who retrofitted 3 of their 747 aircraft to transport the components of the 787. An exception to this scheme is the A380, whose fuselage and wings are too large for sections to be carried by the
Beluga. Large A380 parts are brought by ship to
Bordeaux, and then transported to the Toulouse assembly plant by a specially enlarged road.
North America is an important region to Airbus in terms of both aircraft sales and suppliers. 2,000 of the total of approximately 5,300 Airbus jetliners sold by Airbus around the world, representing every aircraft in its product line from the 107-seat A318 to the 565-passenger A380, are ordered by North American customers. According to Airbus, US contractors supporting an estimated 120,000 jobs earned estimated $5.5 billion (2003) worth of business. For example, one version of the A380 has 51% American content in terms of work share value.
EADS Airbus will be opening an assembly plant in
Tianjin,
China for its A320 series airliners, to be operational in
2009.
AVIC I and
AVIC II will be EADS' local partners for the site, to which subassemblies will be sent from plants around the world.
[32]
Employment data
Workforce by countries
''(Data as of December 31, 2003)''
Workforce by sites
| ' Airbus site ¹ ' | ' Country ' | ' Workforce ' |
Toulouse (Saint-Martin-du-Touch, Colomiers, Blagnac) | France
| 14,133
|
Hamburg (Finkenwerder, Stade, Buxtehude) | Germany
| 11,185
|
| Bristol (Filton), England | UK | 4,379 |
| Broughton, Flintshire, Wales | UK | 4,309 |
| Bremen | Germany | 3,051 |
| Madrid (Getafe, Illescas) | Spain | 2,243 |
| Saint-Nazaire | France | 2,227 |
| Nordenham | Germany | 2,106 |
| Nantes | France | 1,869 |
| Varel | Germany | 1,172 |
| Albert (Méaulte) | France | 1,129 |
| Laupheim | Germany | 1,100 |
| Cadiz (Puerto Real) | Spain | 483 |
| Washington, D.C. (Herndon, Ashburn) | USA | 165+ |
| Wichita | USA | 200+ |
| Beijing | PRC | 100+ |
| Tianjin32 | PRC | TBD |
| Miami (Miami Springs) | USA | 100 |
| 'Total' | | 49,700+ |
''(Data as of December 31, 2003)''
¹ Name of the urban/metropolitan area appears first, then in parenthesis are the exact locations of the plants
Airbus Aircraft Numbering System
The Airbus numbering system is an alpha numeric model number followed by a dash and a three digit number.
The model number takes the form of the letter "A" followed by three digits, e.g. A320. The succeeding three digit number represents the aircraft series, the engine manufacturer and engine version number respectively. To use an A320-200 with International Aero Engines (IAE) V2500-A1 engines as an example; The code is 2 for series 200, 3 for IAE and engine version 1, thus the aircraft number is A320-231.
An additional letter is sometimes used. These include, 'C' for a combi version (passenger/freighter), 'F' for a freighter model, 'R' for the long range model, and 'X' for the enhanced model.
Engine codes
References
1. http://www.airbus.com/en/corporate/ethics/diversity/
2. BAE Systems says completed sale of Airbus stake to EADS
3. Airbus Jetliners: The European Solution, , , , Key Publishing, 2001,
4. Airbus history
5. Airbus: Corporate information: History - Early days
6. Airbus: Corporate information: History - Trouble and strife
7. Airbus: Corporate information: History - Technology leaders
8. Survey - Europe Reinvented: Airbus has come of age Kevin Done
9. Climate Conducive For Airbus Consolidation Pierre Sparaco
10. Airbus: Corporate information: History - Record-breakers
11. Platform envy
12. "BAE Systems to sell Airbus stake." BBC News. 6 April 2006.
13. "BAE in Talks With EADS to Sell its 20% Airbus Stake; British Firm is Focusing Increasingly on Defense Market, Especially in U.S." Michaels, D. ''The Wall Street Journal''. 7 April 2006.
14. BAE launches attack on EADS over Airbus superjumbo warning ''The Independent''. Retrieved 15 June 2006
15. Sharp drop in orders at Airbus Peggy Hollinger
16. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/03/business/worldbusiness/03airbus.html
17. "BAE under pressure to hold Airbus stake" ''The Guardian'' Retrieved 3 July 2006
18. ''"BAE orders new Airbus audit"'' CNN.com 5 July 2006
19. BAE agrees to £1.87bn Airbus sale
20. BAE vote clears sale of Airbus stake Russell Hotten
21. Airbus confirms 10,000 job cuts
22. "The 737 Story: Smoke and mirrors obscure 737 and Airbus A320 replacement studies." ''Flight International''. February 7, 2006.
23. "Airbus to base A320 production in Hamburg, 350s and 380s in Toulouse - report." ''Forbes''. January 15, 2007.
24. Airbus will lose €4.8bn because of A380 delays David Robertson
25. Airbus Orders and Deliveries
26. Insert title here
27. Insert title here
28. Insert title here
29. Insert title here
30. See you in court; Boeing v Airbus; The Airbus-Boeing subsidy row
31. Flare-up in EU-US air trade row
32. "Airbus signs framework agreement with Chinese consortium on A320 Final Assembly Line in China." EADS Airbus official press release. October 26, 2006.
See also
★
Boeing Commercial Airplanes
★
Competition between Airbus and Boeing
★
Bombardier
★
Embraer
External links
★
Official Airbus website
★
Airbus North America
★
Yahoo! - Airbus SAS company profile
★
Complete production lists of all Airbus models
★
Airbus Family of Airliners (Video Compilation)
Key Airbus documents
★
Airbus 2006 Annual Review (PDF)
★
Airbus 2006 Results (PDF)
★
Airbus Results 1989 - 2006 (xls)
★
Airbus Orders & Deliveries 1974 - 2006 (xls)