Bangkok Airways Will Keep Deal With Airbus

By Boonsong Kositchotethana, Bangkok Post, Thailand

Mar. 22–Bangkok Airways has set its heart on the Airbus A350 XWB jet despite inflated prices and the three-year delay in developing the new mid-sized, long-range aircraft.

The airline will not cancel its order for the six jetliners, but has insisted on paying a price based on the original version of the A350-800. Those aircraft were each priced about US$40 million lower than the redesigned plane, which has had the suffix XWB (Xtra Wide Body) added to its name.

“We won’t cancel the order as we definitely want to have the aircraft, though there are some pending issues that need to be cleared (with the European plane manufacturer Airbus),” said Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, the airline’s senior executive vice-president.

The redesigned aircraft, with a fuselage cross-section wider than the original A350 that Bangkok Airways ordered, costs about $200 million.

The development cost of the A350 XWB, the planned rival to the B787 Dreamliner that US-based Boeing Co is developing, has surged to $15.3 billion from $5.3 billion for the original version.

Bangkok Airways has counted on the new fuel-efficient aircraft for its planned 2010 launch of its first long-haul services to various European cities including London, Paris and Frankfurt.

The two parties have yet to negotiate compensation for delivery delays, but Airbus has offered Bangkok Airways three A330-200s, or A330-300s — the existing long-range jets that can carry more than 250 passengers — before the A350 XWB is delivered in 2014, according to sources. Airbus has indicated that 2009 is the soonest it can deliver the first A330, which would serve as a “bridging” aircraft.

The 39-year-old Bangkok Airways was supposed to receive the original A350 in 2011, the year it hopes to surpass the three-million passenger mark. It’s also when new long-haul services will start to figure greatly in its growth plans.

Bangkok Airways last year carried 2.4 million passengers. This year it expects to carry 2.6 million.

Airbus has tried to persuade Bangkok Airways to switch the model of its order for the A350 XWB to the 900 version, which will be rolled out in mid-2013, ahead of the 800 model a year later. The 1000 model is expected around 2015, with the “ultra-long-range” 900R and 900F freighter to follow.

With a range of about 15,500 km, the A350-900 XWB offers about 30 more seats than the A350-800 version, which can carry 270 passengers.

Bangkok Airways has shown a strong preference for the A350-800 version, and has repeated this to Airbus. Both parties are considering a possible lease deal for the three A330 jets because Bangkok Airways does not want to buy three interim aircraft outright for just a short period, according to insiders.

At the moment, the airline is keeping its options open and is no rush to make a conclusive agreement. It still has some time, as the first delivery of the A350 XWB is eight years away.

So far, 15 operators around the world have ordered 184 A350 jets from Airbus. Of those, 102 are firm orders and 82 are pending.

As of Feb 19, Boeing had received 468 orders for the 787, for which deliveries are scheduled to start next year.

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