Aircraft

Airbus’s chief salesman John Leahy has punted the likely arrival date of an all-new single-aisle airliner to almost the middle of the 2020s.

Speaking at the unveiling of the airframer’s latest Global Market Forecast earlier today, Leahy said: "We’ll still be delivering A320s and Boeing delivering 737s in 2020 – maybe with a new engine. An all-new single aisle won’t come out until 2024."

Airbus and Boeing have progressively pushed back the projected introduction of new generation narrowbodies while stepping up work on enhancements to their existing products, including studies into adopting new powerplants such as Pratt & Whitney's PW1000G geared turbofan.