Airbus Sees Fewer Sales for 2000 but Prices Are Firmer

Airbus Industrie on Wednesday forecast fewer airliner sales in 2000 but reported firmer prices as the industry emerges from a fierce late-1990s price war.

The European plane maker announced six of the 300 sales it expected to book this year with an order from Hong Kong Dragon Airlines for five A320 aircraft and an A330-300 wide body.

Airbus sold 476 planes last year, beating rival Boeing Co., with 391, for the first time.

Speaking at the Asian Aerospace show in Singapore, Airbus executives stuck to their commitment to launch this year the proposed $12-billion program for a new super-jumbo airliner, the 555-seat A3XX.

Airbus, currently a work-sharing cooperative of European aircraft makers, will soon become a regular company as a merger reduced its four shareholders to two, Chief Executive Noel Forgeard said.

“These two shareholders are fully committed to the rapid transformation of Airbus Industrie into a company, and I am convinced that the completion of this process will take place in the near future,” he said.

Aircraft makers rarely discuss pricing, but Airbus issued figures showing the price war with Boeing had eased.

Airbus was committed to generating the highest possible value for its shareholders--Aerospatiale Matra of France, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace of Germany and Spain’s Casa, which are all merging, and Britain’s BAE Systems.

“On this subject, the efforts we have made in recent years are bearing fruit, with the average unit revenue for new contracts in 1999 some 8% better over 1997 for single-aisle aircraft and 3% for wide-body types,” Forgeard said.

Airbus expects to start production this year of the A3XXX, which will be larger than the Boeing 747, said John Leahy, senior vice president.

Airbus is trying to gauge airlines’ interest in the A3XX.

“About half the demand for the A3XX will come from Asia,” Leahy said. “I am sure that we would not be launching it if there were not key Asian airlines on board.”