This conglomerate would become Airbus, and they would bring to the market the A300 as a Boeing rival.Right from the get-go, the European government had a plan to build a series of aircraft to compete with each Boeing offer. By David Flynn, July 17 2020. The A330neo revamp is an improvement (and it sells cheaper than the 787), but sales numbers show the ball in Boeings court. If their customer airlines go out of business, then it won’t matter which firm is ‘better.’What is the competitive landscape like between the two airframe builders?We begin with the narrowbody marketplace. The crashing of two Boeing 737 MAX aircraft dramatically changed the narrowbody landscape between the two competitors, but not for the better of either.Boeing’s reputation did take a hit, but there were very few airlines that changed orders or decided to move away from the American firm. All we can say is that, in the widebody market, both firms are balanced and could easily outmatch each other with each aircraft generation.Cargo aircraft is another market that is typically forgotten, despite being an area were Boeing excels. As mentioned in many previous articles, there is one major downside to flying what is essentially a two-story building across the planet. Both firms have been around for decades, developing many of the aircraft that we love and have ushered in a new golden age of air travel. Widebodies are where the real clash of the titans takes place between the two firms. It has helped these two narrowbody lines remain incredibly popular.Looking at sales, the Boeing 737 held the crown for the longest time as the best selling commercial aircraft and was The race between the two types is so tight that it is almost impossible to determine a ‘winner.’ The A320 was designed as a Boeing 737 competitor and has done its job marvelously. But unlike Boeing, who has moved 737 production onto their ill fated 737 MAX series, Airbus actually offers two versions of the A320, the original A320ceo and the newer A320neo.The older ‘ceo’ stands for current engine option, while the ‘neo’ is the new engine option. This means that not only is the A350 twice as fuel efficient (obviously because it weighs far less too) but that it costs airlines less to run too.As we can see from the graph, the A380 is one of the least fuel-efficient aircraft operating in the world today. Depending on the date, it could be that Airbus is in the lead, or that Boeing has the better widebody design. The Airbus A350-900, pictured above, is far more fuel efficient per passenger, thanks to new engines, engineering, and design principles. The A380 needs to carry twice as much fuel as the A350, yet flies almost the same distance. Naturally, there are plenty of variants of each to choose from, and if Please Support us by turning off your adblocker.
Working closely with AirAsia, Virgin Australia, Turkish Airlines and others, Nick provides unique insight and analysis on a variety of aviation topics. Both are long-range, high capacity aircraft, allowing airlines to transport hundreds of passengers across the globe. European governments wanted a slice of the growing airframe market, but Boeing and other builders were too big for any single European firm to take on.Thus they formed a conglomerate of European firms to build an aircraft with the express purpose of competing with American plane manufacturers. There is no duopoly in the world fiercer or a rivalry as complex as Boeing vs. Airbus. This is especially true as the world shifts away from the classic hub to hub model (London to New York) and towards point to point (Manchester to Boston).Cargo or freight is a major revenue earner for airlines, especial those on routes that criss-cross across the world (say that three times fast). But which company is more successful?Before we dive in, there is a caveat about this comparison.Both firms are titans in their own right, having survived other commercial passenger attempts like Lockheed Martin and Convair.