Airbus Delays Entry of Plane to Rival 747

Airbus Industrie said it postponed until the third quarter of 2004 the entry into service of its 600-seat airplane designed to compete with Boeing Co.’s 747, the only commercial aircraft so far that seats more than 400. Barbara Kracht, a spokeswoman for the European consortium, said the group delayed the entry, originally scheduled for the last quarter of 2003, because it wants to make sure it has sufficient time to do “any new things to be done” to the model, called the A3XX. She didn’t offer specifics. Airbus has said it wants the cost of operating the plane to be 15% to 20% below that of Boeing’s rival plane, the 747-400. Analysts say Airbus has no choice but to produce a 600-seat plane to break Seattle-based Boeing’s monopoly in the market for jets seating more than 400.