Airbus chief executive Christian Streiff acknowledges that the ongoing woes with the A380 and the urgent need to complete the integration of the European company has given Boeing a major lead. “We must catch up. In 15 years, I hope we are ahead of Boeing again,” he told the Financial Times.
Meanwhile, one analyst estimates that Airbus might have to sell 400 A380s to achieve break-even. Assuming a contribution of around $30 million on each A380 delivered once the programme is in profit, the company would need to sell 100 more aircraft than the 300-unit break-even target previously estimated, to offset the latent cost rises.